'Mech of the Week: RPT-* Raptor IIWhile requested at the same time as the Bolla Stealth Tank by Weirdo, moderator and wacky antics proponent extraordinaire, the vagaries of the 'Mech of the Week scheduling prevented me from getting to this week's chosen BattleMech as quickly. A phantom on the battlefield, known as much by shadowy tales as hard facts until recently even among the Republic's ranks, the
Raptor II was designed by the Word of Blake as a special operations unit. We don't have a lot of details on what the Blakists were up to with the
Raptor II - TRO3085 helpfully notes rumors of "phantom 'Mechs" have been swirling around in character for a long, long time and
Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents wasn't particularly informative aside from noting that at the time, the Manei Domini weren't known to employ them. A few ideas can be gleaned from the variants which will be shared below. In any case, we know that it was originally built somewhere on Terra at a site destroyed during the invasion by the Word of Blake, but the research facility where the design originated and a certain number of salvaged models were in the hands of Stone's followers by the end of the Jihad. They also took steps to insure they were the only ones with this particular shiny toy, including making sure that all salvaged examples were in their hands as well as issuing orders in the Republic Armed Forces to destroy any
Raptor IIs encountered in non-Republic hands. All of the extant models known to their Department of Military Intelligence are in the hands of the Republic's covert action units.
All of the
Raptors follow in the general pattern laid down by the original RPT-2X. At 40 tons, it's barely edging into the medium size category and builds on endo-steel bones. A VOX 280-rated extra-light engine providing the power for sustained operations at 119 kph. MASC was included to push the 'Mech to 151 kph in a sprint intended to let it dash out after an attack. Some might opt for jump jets, especially in light of the armament, but there's a method to the Word's madness here - the Angerona writeup in TRO3085 pointed out pretty bluntly that something jumping around isn't especially stealthy and I imagine that the thermal bloom from the jets doesn't do a lot for your ability to hide, either. Specially faceted light ferro-fibrous was piled on smartly and designed to integrate well with the void-signature system that is the design's hallmark - a PPC hit is required to strip the arms, the legs or side torsos meet the Gauss test, and the centerline is armored against an AC/20. One quirk of the armor layout is that the head has only 8 points, another common element on most of the variants. The rear armor isn't great - 3/4/3 - but there's only so much you can do on a frame this size with limited tonnage. A small cockpit was used, so PSRs are going to be more of a nuisance than usual, and it's something all of them do, so get used to it and put a veteran or better pilot in here to deal with the problem. A Guardian ECM module was included to meet the construction requirement for the void-signature system. The weapons load is almost as eclectic. The Word's frequently encountered medium variable-speed pulse lasers got a place in each torso, eight tons of bias to short-range knife-fighting. Out of the VSPL lineup, this is definitely my favorite of them, and up close, it's a slightly more accurate IS LPL. The really odd part of the armament is the 'Mech taser in the right arm. A weapon with a range only marginally longer than a machine gun's, the 'Mech taser is probably intended to be used from ambushes. Contrary to the ad copy floating around, they're
not especially likely to shut a BattleMech down, but the disruption they'll cause is valuable all by itself. Against vehicles, ProtoMechs, or IndustrialMechs, it's much more likely to generate a shut down but that's still not something to count on. Operating this one requires you to get right up in someone's grill. The taser is useless outside range 4 and I'm not sure I want to be firing at long-range modifiers through the void-signature's targeting modifier, while the VSPLs are most effective inside range 2 themselves. Definitely what I'd call a "scenario 'Mech" rather than something for general use, if you can pull an ambush off to get things started properly, do it. If you can't, use the MASC if necessary to get stuck in, then balance the needs of maneuver against the fact that void-signature is most effective with a barely moving target, but at worst, you're looking at a +2 cumulative modifier between the void-signature system's effects and your TMM. Have backup ready to assist, even if it's just other void-signature 'Mechs, because your "killing power" is mainly suitable for overpowering a
Flea. Lone-wolf assassination is for snipers shooting at unarmored targets, not 'Mechs trying to take on other 'Mechs.
The Word also operated a much more conventionally armed
Raptor II, the RPT-2X1. The armor, power plant, and ECM are identical to the RPT-2X, as is the visual design. The weapons load is, however, completely different. Someone put an ERSL in the center torso to the rear but the real goodies are the ERLL and ERML in the right torso, giving you a lot more range than the RPT-2X could boast. The left arm (well, weapons pod) has a Streak SRM 6 (with the CASE moved to protect the ammo), and opposite that is a Bloodhound active probe. The ammo endurance is decent enough for a couple of skirmishes given the fact that these are Streaks. The probe is intended to let it function as a reconnaissance platform. This one is a much more useful generalist, able to skirmish at range rather than being obliged to drag someone into a phone booth. If you're operating them together, you may want to use this to take advantage of the RPT-2X's ambushes and hole-punching by providing fire support.
After capturing examples of the
Raptor II in the field as well as the R&D facility that designed it and taking considerable pains to insure they were the only ones with the design (as well as the likely related ARC-9W), the Republic of the Sphere chose to put the unit to use. Unlike the Word's
Raptor II variants, Republic units lack CASE and ejection seats. The pilots also have no identification, an attempt to provide them with deniable stealth covert operations units. The armor on their RPT-3X is a half-ton heavier thanks to the lack of CASE but the major change is the armament. Like the RPT-2X, this one isn't trying to pretend it's a sniper, but the weapons load is much more conventional with two ERMLs and two Streak SRM 6s. One ton was also invested into a heat sink. Since we know the Republic of the Sphere is also using the original Word models, that suggests some interesting combinations alongside the RPT-2X's buzzsaw-like medium VSPLs at knife-fighting range to open the armor.
Like the Word, the Republic opted to create a variant for longer-range combat. They went further, though, removing the MASC featured on most
Raptor IIs in favor of five jump jets, losing the extra half-ton of armor for the fifth. The armament is similar to the RPT-2X1 with an ERLL and ERML but without the active probe or ERSL, there was room for a pair of MML 5s and two tons of ammunition. While there's room for the standard LRM/SRM split for the MMLs, more unconventional choices may be called for on some operations depending on your options and the situation.
As noted before, raw power is not the
Raptor II's strong point, so solo operations against heavy opposition are a bad idea. If you're going for deniable ops, using a lance or so isn't bad and it will give you more firepower to guarantee a quick kill; the backup is also useful if the target turns out to have escorts or there's more than one target, such as taking out an important convoy. You really need to try and isolate targets, savaging them as quickly as possible from an ambush if you can. Be aware that while not moving isn't the death sentence for a
Raptor II it would be for, say, an
Assassin, there are a few risks. First, you're freely ceding initiative of movement to the enemy if they aren't in a properly constrained position. This may mean they get into advantageous position or it may simply give them the opportunity to force you to run after them and break stealth. Second, artillery and bombs (and certain other weapons) are going to find nailing your stealthy immobile rear end a trivial challenge, especially artillery in a position to land quickly. The CCAF is probably the most likely candidate to attach artillery that closely and, just to keep things interesting, perhaps the most likely to get the Republic to turn
Raptor IIs loose. At all times, keep an eye on the heat gauge, especially on the Word variants. The void-signature system adds 10 heat per turn with only 10 or 11 freezers available, which is probably the single largest flaw these things have given how heavily they use energy weapons. With the targeting penalty you're already under, running hot on this 'Mech under void-signature can be a painful burden faster than you expect although not moving or firing to bleed heat is a much more viable option than usual. Any unit with plasma weapons (especially plasma
cannons) needs to be made a priority and killed ASAP or evaded, as does anyone showing an inclination to get close with Infernos. The fact that plasma rifles and Infernos are things that the Capellans use heavily is again one of those fortuitous little coincidences that serves to make the special operations lifestyle so invigorating. I'm not familiar enough with the mechanics of the double-blind rules, including detection, to comment on exactly how you should go about exploiting them, but a
Raptor II is one of the units best equipped to break LOS and drop off the map. Don't be too proud to do it. If concepts like "fair" or "nice" mattered, they wouldn't be using a covert ops unit.
Assuming you can locate a
Raptor II or get enough of a sighting report to get in the area, your next problem is hitting the thing. For once, precision ammo isn't on my go-to list. It's useful enough once they start zipping around but a lot of the time, you're not looking at a target movement modifier but one for the void-signature. Cluster ammo (or an SB Gauss), targeting computers, and pulse lasers are all unaffected. Better yet, most of them will oblige you by coming into pulse laser range. Gauss rifles or Clan LRMs are also a good choice with a long enough range to be unaffected at most of a
Raptor II's preferred engagement ranges and a Gauss rifle has short enough minimum to be easy to maneuver clear of in a lot of cases. If it tries backing away, the longer range will be helpful in reducing the targeting modifiers you're looking at. Plasma weapons or Infernos, to try and reduce the weapons use, are also particularly handy. Another very valid option is being mobile enough to force the
Raptor II to keep moving, inflicting movement modifiers on it and also increasing heat. The pilot may leave the void-signature on to reduce non-visual detection, of course, but it won't do any good for invisibility when the unit is running around. Those with the opportunity may wish to indulge in minefields (Thunders are the easiest to get into the right position ) as well as the artillery or bombs I mentioned above.
The
Raptor II is still a bit of an enigma in certain ways, not least why the Word of Blake chose to name it the way they did. Were they referencing the
Raptor OmniMech? A certain stealth fighter that might or might not have even existed in the game's fictional history? Some Star League project like the
Shooting Star that became the
Legacy? (Out of character, avoiding a complete collision in names with the original
Raptor wasn't a bad idea whatever they were up to. I can think of one name that spans across three unrelated unit families
without looking anything up.) Another is exactly why the Manei Domini seem to have been uninterested in a unit very heavily tailored to the sort of special operations warfare they embraced so aggressively - is it indicative of doctrine, the split between Apollyon and St. Cameron, a quirk, or something else? Another nagging question that I can't seem to come to a good answer for is exactly what the operational use
is. The idea of covert wet work (to the extent I can apply the term to anything that requires a 'Mech or four to accomplish) is certainly implied but the insertion is difficult, costly, and likely gets in the way of stealth because drive plumes are not subtle. There are better ways to do highly deniable operations in a lot of cases. I can think of ways around the insertion problem but a lot of the time it feels like I'm being entirely too clever. In some ways, this question is pointless - rolling dice and blowing stuff up doesn't require deep thought an analysis of operational methodology, nor does the rule of cool - but it's a little pesky.
Are there any answers that have come to you? Experience or thoughts on the 'Mech you'd like to share? Other questions you'd like to ask about this hunter in the shadows?
Image Reference: The Master Unit List
has the details of these shadowy hunters. Reconnaissance imagery is available
from CamoSpecs.
