Aggravator M3 Multipurpose Mobile Minefield

[Sabelkatten]

The clan invasion had the Lyran military in a bind. With heavy mechs they could match the clan's firepower advantage, but only at the cost of mobility. The demand for larger numbers of fast medium mechs from the field was obviously not a viable solution - such mechs could not stand up to clan machines.

But something had to be done about the enemies outmaneuvering the Lyran armies. The answer came from the DCMS - an area denial BA. A unit that could quickly be deployed to cut of the enemy's line of advance allowing the heavy units to engage him.

Several alternatives were offered, but in the end some sneaky maneuvering by a cabal of lower-ranked officers managed to get a small (heavy-weight rather than assault) unit selected as the winner. The top brass was rather shocked when the finally discovered not only had a unit lighter than the Kanazuchi been approved, it had also been equipped with weapons not part of the initial specifications!

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Aggravator M3 Multipurpose Mobile Minefield
IS heavy BA
Chassis 300 kg 12 slots
Motive system 1 ground MP 0 kg
Armored glove RA 0 kg
Heavy battle claw LA 20 kg
Basic stealth armor 10 points 550 kg 3 slots
LRM1 Body 11 rounds 155 kg 5 slots
SRM4 LA 4 rounds 400 kg 3 slots
LMG RA 50 rounds 75 kg 1 slot

Cost 403,500/1,614,000 BV 60/312
So, the logic: Area denial BAs like the Kanazuchi are just targets if the enemy doesn't move into their engagement range. In addition, if you just want the enemy to stay away from a location you don't really need a lot of endurance, you just want a substantial punch (thought some endurance is good to have, thus the LMG). And of course you want the BA to be easily transportable so that you can deploy it quickly.

Thus: A LRM tube with lots of ammo to keep the enemy honest - you're not really expecting to kill anything, but it means the enemy can't just park at 12 hexes and laugh at you (and you might get lucky!). A (relatively) large SRM rack with a couple of rounds if anyone actually does close with you. And finally no more than heavy size so that it can ride omnis.

[Cryhavok101]

Lol, I was hoping for a specialized mine layer. Nice layout on the missiles though. Is there an alternative for the light machine gun?

[Sabelkatten]

I did actually consider a minelayer version. But given the actual goal of the design it wouldn't really add much, and it would be real hard to fit.

Dropping 3 rounds of LRM ammo lets you fit a standard MG or a David LGR, there not a lot of space to play with... ;)

[Sabelkatten]

...no other comments on the concept? :(

[Cryhavok101]

I messed around with the design in megameklabs and I think it is pretty well put together. Any improvements I would make would either need to switch it to clan tech, or would change the whole purpose of the design, which means it is right where it should be.

I did find that you can replace the light machine gun with a micro grenade launcher, which, specifically in a role playing setting I like, for it's utility, but not in the table top game.

I also came up with a DCMS variant for it:

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New BattleArmor
IS experimental

BV: 261
Cost: 2,096,000 C-bills

Movement: 1/1

Internal: 4
Armor: 40
                     Internal    Armor
--------------------------------------
Trooper 1                   1       10
Trooper 2                   1       10
Trooper 3                   1       10
Trooper 4                   1       10

Weapon                         Loc  Heat
----------------------------------------
MRM 5 (Right arm)              Squad     0
Firedrake Needler (Left arm)   Squad     0

Ammo                           Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
MRM 5 Ammo                     Squad     4
MRM 5 Ammo                     Squad     4
MRM 5 Ammo                     Squad     3

Equipment                      Loc
----------------------------------
Armored Glove (Right arm)      Squad
BA Stealth (Basic) (Body)      Squad
BA Stealth (Basic) (Body)      Squad
BA Stealth (Basic) (Body)      Squad
Heavy Battle Claw (Left arm)   Squad
Anti Personnel Weapon Mount (Left arm) Squad


Replaces both missile systems with an MRM 5 with 11 shots, and replaces the light machine gun with a Firedrake needler and a single AP mount. Your design has heavier damage at SRM range, but this one hits harder at longer-than-typical-BA range.

[Sabelkatten]

It's an interesting design, but it doesn't really match my mission objective. Namely, it's a bad area denial suit. Think about it; once you have to get within 15 hexes of a stealth-armored BA armed (almost) solely with MRMs, what's your best option if you can't make it impossible for them to hit you?

Well, they won't be throwing much more at you from 3 hexes away and they'll be a lot easier to hit... :(

Now, a SRM/MRM mix might be interesting:

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Kuritan Aggravator
IS heavy BA
Chassis 300 kg 12 slots
Motive system 1 ground MP 0 kg
Basic manipulator RA 0 kg
Basic manipulator LA 0 kg
Basic stealth armor 10 points 550 kg 3 slots
MRM3 Body 11 rounds 345 kg 5 slots
SRM3 LA 4 rounds 300 kg 3 slots
APWM RA 5 kg 1 slot

Cost 385,500/1,542,000 BV 55/284
Still painful at 15 hexes, but now you really don't want to get to short range! Another option would be a MRM4 and a OS-SRM4 or -SRM5, to make people hesitate a bit.

[CrazyGrasshopper]

You could try going with SRM-3 (OS) in each arm and MRM-4 with 8 reloads in the body. I just think, that surviving and firing MRM's for 11 rounds is a bit tall order for this BA, so the ammo load is redundant. It probably still is even with 8 shots.

[Cryhavok101]

Namely, it's a bad area denial suit. Think about it; once you have to get within 15 hexes of a stealth-armored BA armed (almost) solely with MRMs, what's your best option if you can't make it impossible for them to hit you?

Well, they won't be throwing much more at you from 3 hexes away and they'll be a lot easier to hit... :(

Now, a SRM/MRM mix might be interesting:

Interesting point. I honestly hadn't thought of that. How about this?

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IS experimental

BV: 338
Cost: 2,488,640 C-bills

Movement: 2/2
(Burdened by unjettisoned body-mounted missile launchers)
(Only 1 until you jettison the DWPs)

Internal: 4
Armor: 40
                     Internal    Armor
--------------------------------------
Trooper 1                   1       10
Trooper 2                   1       10
Trooper 3                   1       10
Trooper 4                   1       10

Weapon                         Loc 
------------------------------------
MRM 3                          Body
Light TAG                      Body
Magshot                        Left arm (DWP)
Auto-Rifle                     Left arm (APM)
Magshot                        Right arm (DWP)
Auto-Rifle                     Right arm (APM)

Ammo                           Loc Shots
----------------------------------------
MRM 3 Ammo                     Body    4

Equipment                      Loc
----------------------------------
Detachable Weapon Pack         Right arm
Detachable Weapon Pack         Left arm
Battle Claw                    Left arm
Basic Manipulator              Right arm
BA Stealth (Basic)             Right arm
BA Stealth (Basic)             Body
BA Stealth (Basic)             Left arm
Anti Personnel Weapon Mount    Right arm
Anti Personnel Weapon Mount    Left arm


Only has 4 shots on the MRM. The dual magshots have the equivalent range and damage of an SRM 2 without as steep an ammo dependency (situationally a bonus, and probably not important in most table top games, but something I like, personally). The TAG can give the psychological 'stay away' vibe as well. The AP mounts can account for an extra point of damage a piece as well if they do close.

[Sabelkatten]

You could try going with SRM-3 (OS) in each arm and MRM-4 with 8 reloads in the body. I just think, that surviving and firing MRM's for 11 rounds is a bit tall order for this BA, so the ammo load is redundant. It probably still is even with 8 shots.

It's tough if the enemy makes you a priority target (which is why I didn't like Cryhavok's first design). If you've got enough close-in weapons to make the enemy stay away 10 points of stealth armor can last awhile...

MRM4(10) and OS-SRM5 could work too.

[Sabelkatten]

Ran a MM fight against the Bot to see how the Aggravator worked...

Pretty well, it turned out. The Bot doesn't worry much about massive numbers of SRMs so I took a bit of losses, but putting 30 SRMs into a Nova made him very unhappy! :D

My force was 4 low-BV P5/G4 assaults and 8 BA squads, Bot had 3 clan heavies, 1 medium (P4/G3) and 2 light tanks (P6/G5). BV roughly 8k vs. 12k.