Before we begin, I'd like to send a special thanks to user Elcor05 for his contributions to this MotW article. And now, on with the show.... Dear lord, is there are way to shrink that picture some? My apologies in advance.
Crimson Langur Prime, From TRO:3067
Being Clan Blood Spirit has never been easy; the rest of the Clans have been sticking it to them since the end of Operation KLONDIKE. The 3060’s, however, were shaping up to be spectacularly poor for the Clan, however. The Spirit touman was still reeling from the shattering casualties it took during the ill-fated Absorption War. The Blood Guard Keshik had been shamed by its loss to Inner Sphere forces during the Great Refusal. To top it all off, the Star Adders had been able to establish a foothold on the sacred soil of York despite everything the Spirits did to roll them back.
Things were, to put it mildly, looking down for Clan Blood Spirit. Something had to be done. Fortunately, the Spirits’ only true political ally, Clan Fire Mandrill, were open to helping the Spirits make that “something” a reality.
The decision was made to jointly develop a new OmniMech. This new ‘Mech would not only strengthen ties between the Spirits and their Mandrill friends in Kindraa Mick-Kreese, but it would also – ideally, at least – strengthen the toumans of both Clans. For the Spirits, this newfound strength should allow them to finally throw the Adders off of York. For Mick-Kreese – a predominantly Elemental and aerospace kindraa – it would give them a leg up in the constant squabbling for control of their Clan.
And thus was born the
Crimson Langur, named to honor the two Clans who designed it. Its base chassis and configurations betray influences from both of its parent Clans. The base chassis is the 50 ton-capable York XT, a Spirit product. While the presence of an endo-steel chassis on a Spirit ‘Mech is not unheard of, it is rare enough to deserve mention. The Spirit desire for ruggedness also shows in the design’s armor package, comprising the maximum 10.5 tons of standard plate (chosen for its inexpense) that the chassis can carry (laid out in a 9, 23/8, 18/6, 16, 24 (H, CT/R, L&RT/R, A, L) pattern. The beating heart of the
Langur however is its 350-rated extralight engine. Now while the hefty armor assignment (over 20% of the ‘Mech’s mass, by the way) gives an initial impression that this is a trooper design, this engine speaks to a different paradigm. An engine that big in a 50 ton machine gives the
Langur some serious speed, clocking in at 119 kph at full sprint (7/11 in game terms). That is above average speed for a ‘Mech this size, which indicates that the
Langur is designed more as a strike or heavy reconnaissance machine. It’s also the first evidence of Mandrill engineering in the design, since the other premier Blood Spirit ‘Mechs (being the
Stooping Hawk,
Kingfisher, and
Blood Kite) don’t use expensive XL engines. The impressive armor and impressive engine, however, lead us into the “holy trinity” of ‘Mech design, as discussed elsewhere: out of speed, armor, and firepower, you pick two. The
Crimson Langur has a mere 15 tons of pod space with which to mount weapons.
Compared to similar ‘Mechs, the
Langur sticks out as either more heavily armored (the 45 ton
Grendel has the same speed, more pod space, but less armor) or faster (the 55 ton
Stooping Hawk has more pod space, less armor, and is slower). This makes the
Langur difficult to slot into a specific role or Star type. In a recon Star, it’s going to be a heavy scout or bruiser. In a striker Star, it’ll be a flanker. Because of its light armament, however, it’s rarely going to be your go-to, first-out-of-the-DropShip attack dog.
Speaking of armaments, let’s take a look at the configurations.
PRIME: The Prime variant shows a bit of both Blood Spirit and Fire Mandrill influence. The primary armament is the ER large laser, one of the two staple weapons of Spirit combat machines, mounted in the right arm. Ancillary weaponry consists of paired heavy medium lasers, one in each side torso; heavy lasers have quickly become another Spirit favorite, probably thanks to the fact that they were exposed to them so much during the Adder campaign on York. This configuration lends itself to bracket fire by default. A targeting computer in the right arm adds accuracy to large laser (and corrects the inaccuracy of the heavy mediums), and is the first addition of Mandrill resources to the Prime configuration. The second is an electronics suite: a light active probe was installed in the center torso, probably to help hunt battle armor (at the time of the
Langur’s introduction, the second generation of Clan battle armor was really starting to come into its own). Rounding out the configuration are four extra freezers mounted in the legs and five jump jets mounted in the torsos. The extra heat sinks allow a running Alpha Strike, though using the jump jets will require you to cut out a laser to stay heat neutral.
ALPHA: The Alpha configuration is a pure Spirit machine, packing the tried and true ER large laser in the right arm and a pair of LRM-15s in the left arm, fed by a CASE’d four-ton ammo bin in the left torso. No other equipment is mounted. These are the most favorite weapons of the Blood Spirits so it’s not surprising to see on a Spirit OmniMech. This is obviously a fire support machine, though the ammunition supply – like on most Clan machines – is really only sufficient for a duel or two.
BRAVO: The Bravo configuration swings the pendulum the other way; its weapon choices are obviously influenced by the more technologically advanced Mandrills. An ATM-9 fed by a three-ton bin sits in the right arm, supported by a trio of ER medium lasers in the left. The light active probe is back as are the jump jets, though this time a full seven are fitted. The Bravo is an extremely agile machine as a result. The three-slot ammunition rack allows you to pack multiple types of missiles, but given the machine’s speed and armor, the best bet seems to be to just pack as any HE rounds as possible and close to knife range.
CHARLIE: The Charlie is an extremely odd duck. Firstly, its primary weapon mount in that right arm is an Ultra AC/10. Personal opinions of the Ultra-class cannon family aside, this is at first glance an odd choice for a Spirit ‘Mech given their paucity of resources. However, it does work as an excellent compromise weapon for the two Clans who designed the
Langur, since both field the weapon on their existing OmniMechs: the
Stooping Hawk Prime and
Huntsman Delta (unique to the Mandrills in its early years) both carry the UAC/10 as their main gun. The larger issue is the weight of the weapon: twelve tons including ammo. This leaves only three tons for secondary weapons, which is where the oddity rises to new levels. As early adopters of the ProtoMech, the fact that the Blood Spirits would include these weapons on a BattleMech should not come as that big of a surprise upon retrospect. Four ER micro lasers fitted to the left arm and four micro pulse lasers divided between the side torsos provide at least some measure of back-up firepower to the autocannon. Ordinarily, I’d say that the Charlie is an infantry hunter because of the large array of micro lasers, but the UAC/10 is clearly an anti-‘Mech weapon. It’s safe to say then that the Charlie is definitely not a duelist, but was probably instead intended to be used in a combined-arms battlefield. Fortunately for the Blood Spirits, the Star Adders do still use conventional infantry, giving all those micro lasers a useful role to fill. Or, alternatively, the Ultra gouges holes in ‘Mech armor and the micro lasers go crit-hunting.
DELTA: The Blood Spirits and Fire Mandrills initially shared the
Crimson Langur with the Cloud Cobras (in an attempt to make a new friend) and the Star Adders took some as salvage. The Delta configuration, however, is the first of two
Langur configurations available only to the Diamond Sharks and the Snow Ravens, with no explanation as to how either Clan got their hands on it (most likely through Shark trade with the Spirits before the Homeworld/Invader split since by the time they enter service the Wars of Reaving are starting to run up). The Delta is a strange configuration, mounting a pair of ER micro lasers and a medium pulse laser in each arm, all tied into a targeting computer. Back up is provided by a pair of Streak SRM-4s, with a light TAG and five standard jump jets rounding out the equipment suite. That TAG implies that this variant is supposed to pair with Arrow IV-equipped units and provide forward observation for missile artillery strikes. The micro lasers and SRMs make it decent at crit-seeking as well once those Arrow IV rounds start ripping big holes in the enemy’s armor.
ECHO: The second Shark/Raven configuration, the Echo appears to be a straight short-range bruiser from the get-go: a bevy of six ER small lasers, three medium pulse lasers, and the same paired Streak-4’s from the Delta comprise the drum total of the variant’s loadout, completely lacking any jump jets or advanced electronics (which are otherwise staples of most of its configurations). Eleven double-strength freezers are equipped, which can struggle to keep the machine cool on an Alpha Strike.
PILOTING IT: With its hefty protection and high speed for its size, the
Langur can be used either as a brawler or skirmisher, depending on what you’re facing. If the enemy is bigger and better protected, skirmish: keep those target movement modifiers high while dashing into a good range band, shooting, and then ducking (or jumping, as appropriate) back out of range or LOS. If the enemy is smaller, try to brawl with them. Almost everything else that’s faster than a
Langur also carries less armor. If you’re going into a fight with lights and other mediums, I’d strongly advise taking one of the configurations with long-range weapons like the Prime or Alpha because otherwise you might be struggling to achieve good shots against fleet little buggers. Either way, don’t expect the fight to end quickly. This is a thinking man’s OmniMech.
FIGHTING IT: It’s a medium that’s faster than some lights, so the key thing here is going to be cancelling its TMM. Pulse lasers, cluster rounds, precision ammo, and/or targeting computers all help counteract the
Langur’s generally high movement curve. However, it’s got that nice armor package, so don’t expect to one-shot it. Honestly, the easiest time I’ve ever had killing one (or being killed while piloting one) is when it’s confronted with something faster than it with lots of heavy guns. The
Fire Moth H is one example; that’s a LOT of heavy lasers, and it’s fast enough to chase down the
Crimson Langur with relative ease. It only has two targeting computer-equipped variants, and most of the weapons tied into the system are short range (pulse and micro lasers, mostly), so the chances of getting a blindingly fast back-stabber into range are actually pretty good. The other option is to go a LOT bigger, where the 15-ton pod capacity is going to struggle to chew through your armor, while you just have to be patient and hammer at the little bugger until it falls apart. That armor is impressive for 50 tons, but not so much when facing down a
Timber Wolf, for example.
