Kintaro..WINS! kinda…Whilst the art of the Kintaro makes you go "Dem hips!” the Mech is a potent addition to any force. Designed at the height of the Star League it was built to support missile heavy units and aid them with target designation and then destruction.
Like many 55 ton Mech’s of the era the Kintaro can hit 86kph but lacks the flexibility of the classics like the Shadow Hawk due to its lack of jump jets. Although this is rectified on some variants. Central to its spotting role was a NARC beacon mounted in the chest. The Kintaro would advance, tagging hostiles with a beacon whilst its fire support comrades did the heavy work of flattening a target.
Normally this kind of work could be done by a smaller, faster Mech but the SLDF, seemingly with its love of odd ideas went for a heavy scout approach. A heavy scout/spotter built around a single weapon system and concept. Quite typical of the SLDF.
The Mech was a mix of Hegemony and more commonly available technology. Whilst its engine and skeleton were standard ones with no advanced materials in them, the armour was of Ferro-Fibrous plate which gave increased protection whilst saving weight. Still protection is not light with 10 tons of Ferro-Fibrous plate used to let the Kintaro weather the fire it would take as it closed to the NARC’s short range.
This makes the Kintaro well protected with an armour scheme as follows;
9/18/26/18 (8/10/8)
18/18/23/23
Which by any standard isn’t bad and with the standard engine the Kintaro’s rugged and difficult to kill, requiring you core its chest, or rip a leg off. Also the designers were good enough to fit the Mech with double heatsinks, the ten in the engine were double strength models and this was more than enough cooling.
Sadly the Amaris Civil War and then the Succession Wars were not kind to the Kintaro. Because of their role the Kintaro in SLDF service suffered heavy casualties and those taken by the Houses soon ran into problems. As the First and Second Succession Wars boiled on, the capacity and knowledge to build the advanced Ferro-Fibrous armour, double heatsinks and NARC beacon was lost. As well as the advanced seeker heads for missiles that would react to a NARC’s signal, these too joined the rapidly growing list of LostTech. Apart from on Terra where Comstar retained the Kintaro in their depots on the homeworld.
Whilst some lesser ‘monkey’ versions were made, the Kintaro remained rare, a simpler and stripped down version was produced by the Federated Suns but it was more a generic medium. And then in the War of 3039 the Kintaro came to the fore again, this time in DCMS colours, a stripped down gift from Comstar who were rightly fearful of the new Federated Commonwealth juggernaught. Along with other ‘lost’ Mechs the Kintaro’s and their kin rocked the FedSuns back on its heels and kept them from advancing into Combine space as they also ravaged the Capellan Confederation to near destruction.
Thanks to the Helm Memory Core the Kintaro was able to be produced again and it remained popular with Comstar, the Combine and later the Word of Blake. Upgraded through its long career the Kintaro still serves in the modern era as a spotter and general purpose combatant.
VariantsKTO-19 – The grand pappy of the family the 19 set the Kintaro’s role. With a NARC launcher buried in its chest fed by two tons of ‘ammunition’ the 19 was capable of designating a dozen targets for destruction. It could also add to the barrage and also set another tone for the Mech and its long running love affair with missiles. Equipped with a LRM-5 for long range harassment the 19 featured a pair of SRM-6’s for close quarters barrage work as well as a pair of medium lasers if ammo ran dry. But with each SRM fed by a ton of ammo this would not happen quickly and the Mech was more likely to run out of NARC ammo before running dry of anything else.
Whilst not jump capable the 19 was fast, tough and whilst very role specific, it performs its role adequately whilst its firepower does not disappoint either.
KTO-19b – Of course being a SLDF design there was a Royal variant, step forwards the 19b, a far more up market model with all the bells and whistles you’d expect of a Royal Mech. The 275 engine is swapped out for an XL version which frees up a lot of tonnage. The armour weight goes up and is maximised and re-jigged, with thicker frontal plate vs weaker rear protection on the chest.
Hitting power also goes up, the rather piddly LRM-5 is replaced with an LRM-15 fed by two tons of ammo whilst the SRM’s, NARC and lasers are also retained. CASE was also fitted to save the Mech from an ammunition explosion but this would still gut the Mech’s engine and kill it. But at least there would be something left to salvage.
Otherwise the 19b is unchanged from the standard 19, it still can’t jump but with the addition of the LRM-15 it can now hit hard as it closes, rather than irritate and tickle.
KTO-18 – A Davion missile boat, the 18 is the stripped down ‘monkey’ version that was produced in limited numbers in the 3rd Succession War. Unable to produce the advanced armour compounds, heatsinks or NARC beacon the Davions still produced a potent Mech. A trio of SRM-6’s (one added in the NARC’s place) can deliver a brutal sand blasting and are backed up by the LRM-5 and dual medium lasers. With only 10 single heatsinks and a somewhat thinner hide than the 19, the 18 can still punch hard for a Mech its size. But difficulties in producing the Mech kept its production numbers low and it remained very rare.
KTO-20 That is until the War of 3039 where the DCMS fielded large numbers of Kintaro’s all be it altered from the SLDF ones in Comstar service. Gone was the Narc beacon and in its place a large laser and perhaps most surprising of all, double heatsinks were installed. Now more akin to a traditional Medium Mech the 20 could hit hard, and had next to no worries with regards to heat. Even a full running alpha will barely cause a rise on the heat scale. It was these powerful and efficient Mechs that helped scare the FedSuns forces into not pressing too hard against the Combine. The 20 is a powerful machine, it’s a good solid Medium, and whilst it can’t jump, its near heat woes free, which is rare in 3039 and is tough too.
KTO-C – Testbed time! In this case the C is a 20 that was taken out of service to test the then brand new C3 slave system. This was done by simply pulling out a Medium Laser. Whilst still lacking the NARC the C3 system allowed the Mech to perform its spotting role for other C3 equipped Mech’s. The testing must have been successful, but the soldiers of the Draconis Combine looked down their noses at the C3 system and it wasn’t until Operation Bulldog that they finally realised that it was a very powerful tool.
KTO-K – The last Kuritan Kintaro the K (so many K’s in so little time) was a direct upgrade of the C model. With more advanced weapons the K became a close to mid range brawler whilst also carrying out its spotter role. To this end it lost the large laser and LRM rack but gained enough jump jets to throw it into 150 meter leaps. Firepower was also not forgotten as three ER Medium lasers were installed as well as two Streak SRM-6’s allowing for the traditional barrage role. Fitted with CASE and a C3 slave the K can provide targeting data whilst being able to flatten most smaller Mech’s that come after it. Still firepower is a bit underwhelming, the Streaks are nice but due to the shotgun nature of the missiles, it lacks a solid knock down punch unlike the C and its simple large laser.
KTO-21 – You know I said that Comstar and the Blakists liked this Mech, well here it is! The big change comes with the Mech’s skeleton, being built of Endo-steel to save weight, but that’s about it for major structural changes. The engine’s still a standard one and it comes with 10 double heatsinks. The new toy is in the weapons outfit. Going back to the NARC beacon the 21 features the then newly developed Improved Narc (iNARC) launcher. More flexible, longer ranged and more advanced, but heavier for it. This meant that something had to go, so no large laser, no LRM-5. Instead its somewhat meagrely armed with a pair of ER Medium lasers and the good ‘ol fashioned SRM-6’s. The electronics thankfully got an overhaul and its fitted with a C3i computer as well making the 21 a fearsome spotter.
ThoughtsThe Kintaro is built to carry the NARC system and use it. It is its one goal in life. Some designers build weapons for a vehicle, here the SLDF built a vehicle for a weapon. Without the NARC in the 18 or 20 we get a solid if somewhat uninspiring Medium. The 18 stands out because I don’t think anything mounted 3 SRM-6’s until Omni’s come along. But you still get a solid, hard hitting medium. With the addition of C3 though the Mech becomes far more dangerous in its role and the SLDF would have no doubt squee’d with delight if they had ever developed such a system and mated it to the Kintaro.
Fighting one is fairly easy, if it’s a 19 or 19b, don’t let it get close. The NARC pod is very short ranged and limited ammo for it means you won’t probably be willing to waste shots at long range, trying to close the distance for better numbers. The 18 and 20 are thuggish machines, they outgun the classic 55 tonners and perform far better at short ranges than they do, in the era they are introduced they are hard hitting machines that most Mech’s wont want to face. But still long ranged firepower is limited, so don’t let them get close.
Against the Clans the Kintaro is at a disadvantage. Its as fast as most Clan Heavies, and Clan Mediums can usually run rings around them whilst hitting hard at longer ranges. Using one takes a bit of care, if you’re using it as a Medium trooper it’s fine, its not flashy but its fine, but as a NARC delivery system, I’d suggest something faster, but this can do the job none the less. It might not make it out alive but it’ll do the job.
As always thoughts and comments are most welcome!
