(presented a little early due to how busy I will be over the next 48 hours).
Welcome maggots to your briefing on the 5th of 6th Word of Blake Celestial mechs, the Preta.
For information concerning prior topics refer to the following items in your syllabus:
Sarna overview of the Manei Domini
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Manei_DominiAdditional information about implants
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=20507.msg1164613#msg1164613Prior briefings of other Celestial classes
Deva:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=21376.msg478084#msg478084Archangel:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=18562.0Seraph:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=19192.msg431950#msg431950Grigori:
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=57805.0The Preta serves as the medium mech entry into the Celestial series. Capping out at a speed of 97 kph and featuring 15 tons of pod space. It compares well to both Clan and Inner Sphere designs of similar weight. Unlike the majority of Celestial designs which utilize an advanced gyro, the Preta skips this convention and utilizes only a Light Engine and Endo Steel for weight savings and in turn modest space for weapons and equipment.
Configurations:
Invictus (Prime)- The Invictus armaments feature a Snub Nose PPC, a Light PPC, and Retractable blade. An AMS is mounted for defensive purposes. An additional heat sink fills out the pods on the Invictus to keep the mech flush on heat.
Mechs with melee aren’t something that I am particularly fond of unless they are optimized to do so. In this case the Retractable blade, outside of terror tactics, serves little practical purpose except to make up for the inaccuracy of the Light PPC at knife fighting range. A more conventional wisdom would have been to include either a second Light PPC to strengthen the mech’s medium range firepower. Alternatively a battery of Medium lasers or Small pulse lasers to cover for the Light PPC’s increased difficulty to hit targets at under 30 m. Jump jets also could have been included to get the C3i into a more advantageous position in broken terrain.
The configuration does have other contemporaries to compare to. The Firestarter OE features a Sword, but a lack luster weapon load out consisting of an MRM-20, and 2 pulse lasers. The Vindicator 5L and 6L also feature a sword. While slower than the Preta, the armament is considerably more balanced that one weapon is not playing the role of another at a different range. I would slot the Invictus between the two for general effectiveness. The bottom of the barrel though is pretty poor.
Dominus (A)- Firepower on the design is a bit underwhelming for a medium mech with only 4 ER medium lasers, however a Target Computer is included to improve accuracy. Balancing the weapon load out is the inclusion of eight improved jump jets that allow the design to jump to 240 meters. Only a handful of designs are going to jump as far or farther than this monster at that tonnage. The inclusion of a couple extra heat sinks mean this thing is going to run flush unless you brought something to heat it up.
The configuration is simply a nuisance. The damage is just enough with full hits to cause a PSR. The damage on the merits of its ER Medium lasers isn’t all that scary, but if you can’t hit the Preta to incapacitate it that consistent damage will stack up. The closest comparison you will find in any other IS arsenal is the Stealth. At the end of the day though, the Stealth doesn’t have a TC to aid its aim. The C3i is the star of the configuration. Get close an in a position to harass, then let your buddies lob ordinance at a shared target with short range modifiers.
Infernus (B)- This bad boy has a Heavy PPC and ER medium laser as its only backup weapon. 6 jump jets and an extra heat sink round out the design. It is the Blitzkrieg 4F, before the Blitzkrieg 4F.
Comminus (C)- Featuring a Plasma rifle, 2 medium pulse lasers, and ER small laser it hit all the points of a medium mech. One larger ranged weapon and a few smaller ones. The Plasma rifle utility makes it good against mechs and excellent against everything else. TAG and a Beagle active probe are there too for heavy scouting duties and spotting for Arrow IV and SG LRM strikes.
Luminos (D)- This is a more balanced version of the Dominus. It features a SnPPC, 2 Medium pulse lasers, 2 Small Pulse lasers, and 6 jump jets. It will run a bit warm if everything is fired together, but otherwise makes a decent platform for duty as a hunter killer of lighter designs.
Eminus (E)- Featuring a Thunderbolt-15 as its main weapon backed up by 2 ER medium lasers and RL-10 to fill out space, this variant is a little underwhelming. The small amount of ammo makes this design very impotent once its measly 4 shots are exhausted. The smarter move would have been to look at a smaller Thunderbolt launcher (or launchers) and dedicate the left over weight to balance in other medium weapons or equipment.
Caelestis (S)- This thing has Clan ER pulse lasers! An ER large pulse with 2 ER medium pulse lasers and the ability to jump make this a pretty impressive machine. Overheating is something this machine can do with ease, even with the inclusion of extra heatsinks. While I generally don’t like ER pulse lasers, VDNI implants can make up for the less effective accuracy of ER pulse lasers when compared to standard pulse lasers.
Exanimus (U)- the underwater combat version is pretty bad. The Exanimus features a SnPPC, ER small laser, and a retractable blade for its offense. I’ve seen enough James Bond movies to know that knife fighting underwater is a dreadful idea. The inclusion of laser AMS means this thing could survive some incoming torpedoes. However, unless it destroys them all, chances aren’t good it is going to kill anything. *Queue the need to have torpedo’s rant’.
Kendali- The personal configuration of Opacus Venatori Demi-Precentor Kendali Morris, it is as nimble as the Dominus, but its firepower is not similarly impressive. Featuring a Light PPC with capacitor, a Small VSP, and TAG it is ill suited to most anything aside from harassment and spotting duties.
In all, the configurations are a mixed bag that covered each spectrum from really good to what the hell were they thinking. What are your thoughts on this design?
