’Mech of the Week: GTR-* Great Turtle
Vining Engineering and Salvage Team (VEST) is a company well-known for creating both mainstream (
Grand Titan) and experimental (
Aquagladius) BattleMechs. Though some of their competitors deride their designs as excessively focused, even as glorified IndustrialMechs, their machines are still quite effective. In response to reports indicating a massive drop of life expectancy for MechWarriors, VEST produced the
Great Turtle, which while lacking overpowering offensive firepower, is one of the most durable BattleMechs in existence.
The GTR-1 is a 100-ton quad design and mounts an astounding 40.5 tons of hardened armor, providing the maximum protection available for any BattleMech. As each point of armor counts twice, this is enhanced further, so that the center torso can take three short-range Heavy Gauss rifle slugs. This is good, since the design also uses a torso-mounted cockpit. While this does grant the pilot much more protection than a standard head-mount, it also leaves him susceptible to the legendary Golden BB.
The armor also causes a slight decrease in running speed, so jump jets were added to allow for added maneuverability. Endo-steel mitigates some effects of the weight of the armor and a compact gyro. Fourteen double heat sinks deal with most of the heat generated by the weapons load; one large and three medium x-pulse lasers tied to a targeting computer.
While a beautiful design in its own right, complaints about the short range of the weapons load led to the creation of the GTR-2 variant. The large x-pulse was replaced by an ER PPC with attached capacitor, and one of the medium x-pulses was swapped for an ER medium. Three heat sinks were added to assist with the additional heat. The hardened armor was replaced by standard plate, thus decreasing the amount of punishment it can take without breaching. Some of the weight savings went into a compact engine. The rest went into using armored components for the engine, gyro, sensors, cockpit, life support, hips, and every weapon on the machine. This does add to the durability of the design.
To use this machine, the closer you get, usually the better off you are. Though you are vulnerable to foes in your back arc, do remember that anyone hugging your rear probably won’t like a 100-ton quad mule kicking them. Getting to your opponent is a bit more difficult. Use cover if you can. Or if you can use it like I tend to use
Berserkers. March straight at the enemy you want to slam and use your armor to absorb the damage. This is especially true for the GTR-1, which can absorb phenomenal amounts of fire. Only extreme bad luck will put your down.
To fight one of these, there’s no way around it. Keep firing at it until it stops twitching. If you can use as many Gauss Rifles as you can. Even though the GTR-1 can take multiple shots anywhere other than the rear torsos and the head, enough shelling will breach. While using AP ammo in your autocannons might seem a good idea, the hardened armor takes away those properties. That said, if you have a
Hunchback, or an extremely unlucky Clanner in a
Hunchback IIC, Class-20 autocannons should be fired as fast as possible. You might not get too many chances. As with all quads if you can get into its side arcs, you will be even more protected. Bonus points if you can get into melee in those arcs. And if you get a lucky “snake eyes†on location from the front or rear, take advantage of it. Even at -2 on the GTR-1, every chance you get to put that pilot in a body bag, do it. It’s not like he has an escape hatch anyway.
