Warhammer IIC – Its only a second line Mech.. how bad can it be? *SOUNDS OF HORRIFIC CARNAGE* Oh….BackgroundThe IIC’s of the Clans are all refits or rebuilds of the classic Unseen’s, staples of the SLDF that would have gone into exile with their pilots in their hundreds or thousands. The Clan’s rebuilt or built new machines with classic names like Shadow Hawk, Griffin and Warhammer, and whilst they bare those names they are nothing like their progenitors. Most IIC’s tend to be smaller and lighter and served initially as frontline machines but with the arrival of Omni-Mech’s as well as other newer technological breakthroughs the IIC’s were relegated to Garrison duties in all but the most resource starved Clans who could not field Omni’s in large enough numbers.
Their non-modular nature though is not a drawback, the IIC’s are for the most part, cheap, cheerful machines that do their job whilst freeing up Omni-Mech’s for the front lines. But some IIC’s go above and beyond that, some are not cheap, cheerful garrison machines but Mech’s that can hold their own against the most advanced Mech’s on ANY battlefield. One of those is the Warhammer IIC.
The Classic Warhammer was a glass-cannon, over gunned, under-sinked and with more wishful thinking than protection it was, none the less produced in the tens of thousands and it served as the inspiration for its IIC cousin. Whereas most IIC’s are lighter, the Warhammer IIC gained 10 tonnes to turn it into an 80 tonne assault Mech and the skeleton was changed to a lightweight Endo-steel one whilst Ferro-Fibrous armour was used in its protection. To keep construction and resource costs down though the Mech is still powered by a 320 rated standard engine which allows it to match the speed of its progenitor at 64kph which is still a good speed for most assault Mechs.
Everything else was then poured into fixing the original Warhammers flaws of protection and cooling and with more advanced and lightweight Clan weapons the Mech’s throw weight also increased dramatically. The result was an instant classic and despite first entering service back in 2829 the Warhammer IIC remains in production today and indeed is one of the most common Clan Mech’s in its weight class.
Then enter Clan Diamond Shark/Sea Fox. The merchant minded Sharkfoxes scented profit post Tukkayid and seeing other Clans with their depleted Tourman’s who were desperate for any Mech they could get their hands on the Shark’s were more than willing to sell or trade the IIC throughout Clan Space. As the Inner Sphere once more edged towards chaos with the FedCom Civil War a number of Clan Mech’s started appearing in Inner Sphere service, not salvaged machines won in combat but sold by Clan Diamond Shark and as the Jihad erupted and the Clans in the Homeworlds started ripping each other apart the Sharks in their new Inner Sphere holdings threw aside any pretence that they were not selling Mech’s and equipment to the House Lords and started selling en-mass. The chance to have a pristine Clan Mech was simply too much to pass up and Houses and Mercenary’s made grabby hands at the Shark’s who were more than willing to oblige. For a price of course.
During the Jihad the IIC range joined the Mad Cat II, Ha Otoko and others in both Inner Sphere and Clan service with the Warhammer IIC being THE Mech to buy thanks to its fighting potential and the Sharks produced a slew of refits and variants to cater to their market.
During the Republic Era with Stone’s Republic trying to make the Successor Lords disarm or at least slow down their military purchases but the Sea Foxes now with the bit firmly in their teeth kept churning out Warhammer IIC’s producing one variant that sent a thrill of alarm through the Republic as it was still being offered to anyone willing to pay. I can quite happily imagine the Republic having its agents running around trying to buy this variant up in bulk from the various Aimag’s before the Foxes realise what was going on and then just hitch the price up with a trollish smile on their faces.
And of course, buying IIC’s means that you’re then reliant on the seller for parts and possibly even servicing…win for the cunning Sea Fox Merchants and Merchant-Warriors who now have basically a captive audience for their goods and materials.
DesignThe design of the Warhammer IIC has not really changed much over the centuries since its introduction, some variants do feature larger engines or different armour tonnages they are still for the most part broadly similar. Like the classic Warhammer the IIC and its variants are built around a pair of big guns and a supporting weapons battery although they tend to be more uniform than the older Inner Sphere machine’s secondary’s.
The Warhammer IIC for the 90% of its variants also uses a standard rated engine and the machine also tends to be absolutely padded with heatsinks whilst many also feature head mounted weapons. Combined with their solid protection this makes the Warhammer IIC very hard to put down as they can loose both torso’s and keep going making the Warhammer IIC an inadvertent Zombie that probably shares a few drinks and war stories with Kingfisher’s after hours.
The vast majority of Warhammer IIC variants are protected by 12 tonnes of Ferro-fibrous armour laid out as follows.
9/24/30/24 (10/12/10) across the head and chest
24/24/30/30 across the arms and legs.
And where the armour is different I will mention it. This is solid but not maxed out protection and gives the machine protection roughly similar to a Timber Wolf/Mad Cat but thanks to being so padded with heatsinks and its standard engine the Warhammer IIC is far harder to disable.
MANY VARIANTS! HANDLE IT!!Standard – Setting the bar very high the Warhammer IIC’s standard config is capable of engaging at all ranges. A pair of ER-PPC’s give it a fearsome headcapping capability whilst a veritable phalanx of five medium pulse lasers (two in each side torso and one in the head) can positively shred anything once the range drops. As a final punch the Warhammer IIC also retains the SRM-6 launcher of its progenitor and that draws from a one tonne ammo bin. A massive 20 double heatsinks keep the Standard running very cool and allows its pilots to pick and choose what they want to commit murder with and without the usual Clan design heat woes. Even though the base chassis is now 321 years old it can still rip a Mech apart and even ultra-modern machines like the Tomahawk II must give this Mech the respect its fire and staying power demand.
2 – Where as the Standard is a general purpose machine the 2 lives for fire support. It retains its ER PPC’s whilst the massed laser battery is removed and replaced with a pair of LRM-15’s each fed by two tonnes of ammo. The SRM-6 is also retained for short range barrage work. Whilst lacking the raw punch of the Standard the II is also one of the few Warhammer IIC variants to mount any form of indirect firing weapons and Clan LRM’s are as dangerous at short range as they are at long. It retains the 20 heatsinks of the Standard as well as its armour layout and is a straight up weapons swap.
3 – With the development of Heavy Lasers it was inevitable that the Warhammer IIC would be fitted with them and the 3 is a sidegrade of the Standard chassis. The ER PPC’s are replaced with a Heavy Large Lasers and the SRM-6 is removed along with its ammo and the massed pulse lasers are retained. The cooling system was improved with two additional heatsinks added to help with the ferocious heat load of the heavy large lasers and half a tonne of armour was added giving it a protection profile like this;
9/24/30/24 (10/15/10 ) Across the head and chest
25/25/34/34 for the arms and legs.
Finally the Sharks tied the lasers into a Targeting Computer which makes the 3 a brutal short to mid-range combatant. The Warhammer IIC 3 was also the last of the ‘original’ designs to match the looks of the classic Warhammer.
4 – The 3 was not quite the success the Sharks wanted though and so they went back to the drawing board to design a new variant for common release to the Clans and Inner Sphere. A re-designed visual aesthetic gave the machine a squatter and aggressive profile vs the broad and slab sided original design and the weapons were again re-worked. The classic pair of ER PPC’s returned to their rightful place in the arms whilst new toys were added in the form of a pair of ATM-6’s whilst an ER Small laser was mounted in the head. Twenty double heatsinks and an armour layout identical to the Standard keep the 4 as a cool running and tough machine whilst 5 tonnes of ammo shared between the two launchers give it the longevity it needs for most battles
5 – Another new toys variant the 5 debuts the HAG on the Warhammer IIC chassis with two HAG-20’s replacing the ER PPC’s with the two cannons drawing from a total of 4 tonnes of ammo. A quartet of heavy medium lasers fills out the energy weapons battery whilst a Streak SRM-4 is mounted in the head.
Thanks to its reduced heat load this variant only has 14 double heatsinks but to fit the weapons some armour was shaved off to give it the following armour profile;
9/22/34/22 (8/11/8) Across the head and chest
23/23/30/30 for the arms and legs.
The HAG’s give it a potent sandblasting ability which the heavy lasers would be more than willing to exploit and it also gives the Mech a fearsome AA weapon even if the ammo storage for the big guns is merely adequate and ties the Mech to the supply lines
6 – A bit of a mix bag the 6 to me seems more like this was a ‘what if..’ that was put together by a few bored Scientists to see if it A. Worked and B. Would sell. Retaining the pair of ER-PPCs and armour scheme of the Standard the VI removes every other weapon save an ER Small laser in the head. In their place a massive HAG-30 drawing from a 4 tonne ammo bin dominates the Mech whilst 15 heatsinks keep it cool if not that cool running. I think this is an interesting weapons mix, the HAG can be used to both soften up a foe before ER PPC’s rip holes in weakened armour or be used to fill holes made by the big energy cannons full of explodium and again it acts as a fearsome flak cannon against any Aerospace asset of VTOL that’s feeling cocky.
7 – The most radical of the Warhammer IIC variants the 7 was designed by Clan Snow Raven to fight in their preferred environment. DEEP SPAAAAAAAAAACE! Stripping off a considerable tonnage of armour the 7 features six improved jump jets also making it one of the only Warhammer IIC to be able to jump. Two ER PPCs are joined by a phalanx of lasers. Two ER Mediums, two medium pulse and two micro pulse lasers give the 7 a meaty barrage capacity whilst an ATM-6 and its 3 tonnes of ammo add to the firepower. Two tonnes of fuel are also carried whilst 15 heatsinks let you use the weapons as long as you don’t slap the alpha strike button.
The biggest flaw with the 7 is its positively anaemic protection which is barely that of an assault Mech and more akin to the classic Warhammer;
9/20/30/20 (6/9/6)
20/20/26/26
Due to its specialised nature it would probably be very rare to see the 7 in ground combat.
8 – The variant that caused the Republic’s military to have kittens, cold sweats and possibly screams of panic the 8 entered service in the dying days of the Jihad and is a different beast to the other Warhammer IIC variants. The biggest change is the engine, out goes the 320 rated standard and in goes a huge 400 rated XL which boosts its ground speed up to that of most Clan heavy Mech’s at 86kph or 5/8 in game terms. Firepower was also slanted with an eye towards Combined arms opponents. The heavy hitters being a pair of Heavy Large lasers whilst two new Plasma Cannons, each drawing from a frankly inadequate 1 tonne ammo bin can do horrific things to infantry and tanks.
A pair of ER Medium lasers and a Streak SRM-6 fed by a tonne of ammo round out the 8's weapons whilst 19 heatsinks struggle to keep it cool. Whilst built for short to mid-range engagements the 8 can get there thanks to its speed which is usually not expected of an assault Mech. The armour was thinned out slightly though and it has this profile;
9 23/34/23 (7/11/7) for the Head and chest
23/23/30/30 For the limbs
This variant was a hit and seemingly was snapped up as quickly as possible by everyone with the Ghost Bear Dominion being one of the biggest buyers along with any House that could afford the massive C Bill cost.
9 – Seemingly a tech demonstrator the 9 is like the VIII a fast machine capable of hitting 86kph but this is due to its mind-numbingly expensive 400 rated XXL engine originally developed with sales from the lackluster Dasher II. New toys are evident with a pair of Clan RAC-5’s, one in each arm and drawing from a total of 6 tonnes of ammo between the two guns for considerable battlefield endurance. The rest of the Mech’s weapons though are surprisingly pedestrian and simple. A pair of ER Medium lasers and a pair of ER Small’s are joined by a LRM-10 whilst 16 double heatsinks keep the Mech cool despite the hot running engine. It also has an identical armour layout to the Standard but the XXL engine is vulnerable due to it filling out large chunks of the chest, and for added protection an ECM is mounted in the head.
One vital thing to remember is that Clan RAC’s whilst as heavy and bulky as their Inner Sphere counterparts have a considerably longer range due to more advanced ballistics and propellants. So if you see this machine don’t think you’re out of range of its guns if you see they are RAC’s, because the chances are, you’re not.
10 – A variant I’m amazed didn’t come into existence earlier, the 10 would not look out of place in the Blood Spirit’s Tourman as it features their most beloved of weapons, the ER Large laser. Four of them, two in each arm. These are backed up by a pair of SRM-6’s with one each shoulder whilst an ER small laser lives under the cockpit. Armoured as well as the Standard the 10 is cooled by 23 double heatsinks who can handle all four lasers firing at once as long as the Mech does not move.
Whilst rather dull it’s a fearsome sniper and there’s few weapons save AC-2 scale weapons that can reach out to the range of Clan ER Large lasers giving this machine the ability to hammer a foe from range that few can retaliate at.
11 – Seemingly a variant of the 4 the 11 is more tuned for city fighting or pure garrison work where engagements would occur at short ranges. With a 320 rated standard engine but armour identical to the Mk III and with an enhanced cooling array of 24 double heatsinks the 11 is made for close quarters engagements.
Two heavy large lasers give it the main punch whilst a pair of Streak SRM-6’s, one on each torso seek holes torn in armour. A ER Medium laser in the head seems to be an afterthought whilst an A Pod is mounted on each leg to deter infantry who want to try something a bit risky.
12 – Another tech demonstrator, the 12 uses the huge and expensive 400 rated XXL engine to propel it to 86kph and the armour protection is the same as the Standard, but it uses the new and extremely advanced Heat Dissipating armour (no idea how this armour works, not a clue!). Despite the advanced engine and ultra-advanced armour the weapons are VERY pedestrian and harken back to the classic Warhammer in their layout. A pair of ER PPCs are joined by a pair of ER Medium and Small lasers whilst a Streak SRM-6 and its one tonne of ammo round out the weapons load out. Whilst for added protection an ECM is buried in the head. Perhaps the 12 wasn’t burdened with any other new toys as it was to test the viability of the new armour on a combat machine and they designers chose to stick with the familiar and the reliable.
ThoughtsThe Warhammer IIC range is a tour-de-force of what Clan Tech can do. Whilst the standard is a simple but effective beatstick its what this Mech is good as and it continues this on its many many variants. From close quarter murder machines to long range snipers the Warhammer IIC covers many of the stops and is unfailingly solid in its performance. The Warhammer IIC’s variants are for the most part if a bit boring they are generally very effective. It does not try shoving Ultra-2’s in places they don’t belong (on a Mech at all) or looks at the Gargoyle Prime and goes “I wanna be just like that…” The configs have good weapons from sand blasters to brutal hole punching Heavy large lasers and ER PPCs a plenty.
And for a Clan Mech they are also distressingly hard to kill even if their armour isn’t maxed out; thanks to lots of crits padded with heatsinks and the standard engines that most are equipped with.
Fighting one is first accepting that you’re going to take a pounding doing so. All but the 3 and 11 can fight at long range and with Clan ER PPC’s raining down on you it’s not something you want to try the ranged game with whilst trying to get close brings you into range of their secondary guns. Really the Warhammer IIC is a little monster of a Mech and with its Clan guns it punches at a 100 tonner’s weight.
Things to try include indirect fire as most of the Wammy IIC’s lack any form of indirect fire and despite its firepower the armour is not amazing, so concentrated fire will bring one down but ganging up is recommended as even a Pillager or Thunder Hawk must be wary of one of these little brutes. Otherwise liberal use of plasma’s and infernos to try and limit the hate this thing is firing back at you is suggested. One thing of note, the ammo heavy variants do have a tendency to store all their ammo in one place making for a nice big bomb if hit.
I will assume that variants of the Warhammer IIC will continue to be produced in the future and we’ll no doubt see a variant with ER Large Pulse lasers on them as well as other new toys on Clan Mech’s and may Kerensky have Mercy if a Shark Merchant goes “Hey…can we put Ferro-Lamelor on this thing?” and his Scientist friend thinks for a moment and then goes “Sure. Why not.”
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/7/7a/WarhammerIIC.jpg - NOTHING TO SEE HERE. MOVE ALONG CITIZEN. MOVE ALONG! (Its the Unseen version)
A Warhammer IIC 8.
A Warhammer IIC 4
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/f/f8/Warhammer_iic_8.pngArt of the Warhammer IIC 8 - not shown due to the size of the image.
As always thoughts and comments are most welcome.
