BackgroundThere are iconic Davion 'Mechs (Centurion, Enforcer) and iconic Steiner 'Mechs (Zeus, Atlas, assault mechs in general), but after the formation of the Federated Commonwealth, it was time to ask what the iconic Fed Com BattleMech might be. Some of those in the know pointed to the Hatchetman, and with good reason. The Hatchetman had emerged from a quiet collaboration between Federated Suns designers and Lyran manufacturing, clearly a forerunner of the alliance to be. It was a strong example of the results that could be achieved when these two great nations worked together, being one of the few all-new BattleMech designs to emerge in the 3020s without the help of Lostech, and with innovations like the full-head ejection system. But that was all before the alliance and before the Helm core. In the 3040s the Hatchetman's designer, the NAIS-affiliated B. Banzai, had plans for a bigger, nastier follow-up. The Hatchetman was only 45 tons and had a poor chance of taking down the largest 'Mechs one-on-one, but Banzai's team had in mind a heavier version, packed with Star League technology, that could intimidate even assault MechWarriors.
The design team, and the Defiance/Johnston manufacturers who would bring their work into being, had that "iconic 'Mech" challenge in mind from the beginning. While the Hatchetman was manufactured entirely within Lyran space, this time the project borrowed a trick military contractors have used for over a millennium. It would incorporate components from regions as diverse as possible, so that Fed Com citizens might have some local interest in the design's success, no matter what nation they had been citizens of before 3028. The 1N even included Ferro-Fibrous armor manufactured in captured Liao space, and HildCo jump jets imported from the St. Ives Compact.
At the height of the Federated Commonwealth's success, of course, designing a 'Mech as an emblem probably didn't look risky at all. This triumphalism would backfire as the wheel of fortune turned and the Federated Commonwealth fell apart. As icons of a short-lived nation, the 1N and 2N models have become scarce. But the Axman would live on in new variants. Steiner and Davion may not have agreed on much after splitting up, but they both felt the Axman was a success worth building on.
VariantsAs its name implies, the Axman is in essence a Hatchetman, only more so. The original 1N model is built around a simple principle: bring the scariest short-range weapons a mech can mount. That includes the axe, which can crush any 'Mech's cockpit in one blow, but also a class 20 autocannon that does much the same from a slightly greater range. A large pulse laser and three mediums bring additional short-range pain. To free up tonnage for all these weapons, it employs the latest recovered technology: double heat sinks, an XL engine (somewhat limiting its survivability), and Ferro-Fibrous armor (but not Endo Steel). Its ancestry is clear: the right torso autocannon and arm-mounted lasers imitate the layout of the original Hatchetman. It also features the full-head ejection system. The Axman even copies one of the more peculiar decisions from the Hatchetman: the placement of its medium lasers on the right arm. A MechWarrior who has maneuvered into position to strike with the hatchet must forego the use of the medium lasers, somewhat limiting its ability to exploit the opportunity. This may be necessary anyway if the Axman is jumping; it doesn't have the heat sinks to jump and alpha strike very often. The 1N's biggest weakness is obvious: at long range, it is helpless. Without even the range of an AC/10, the AXM-1N is outranged by the HCT-3F Hatchetman, and badly so by most of its fellow heavy 'Mechs. Like its smaller sibling, the AXM-1N is best suited to urban, rough, or heavily forested terrain, where it can exploit cover, then fire its jump jets to ambush an enemy and strike with its short-range armament. Its role as an ambush predator is confirmed by the parsimonious 2 tons of autocannon ammunition. AXM-1N MechWarriors should not waste shots in the autocannon's long-range bracket.
The 2N is a dramatic departure. Dropping the autocannon in favor of two LRMs-15s, it becomes a long-range support mech. Critics can rightly argue that the design fights against itself: there is no realistic way to engage the same target with LRMs and a hatchet. One answer is to place the 2N in a fire support lance. It can stand among three Archers and contribute its own LRM volleys, while providing a very nasty surprise to the enemy skirmisher who tries to close with the fire support. Here, too, however, it is limited by its ammunition supply. With a mere two tons to feed thirty tubes, the Axman will exhaust its
information ammunition before a dedicated fire support mech should. At that point the MechWarrior may be sorely tempted to close and use that hatchet and laser armament. Another option, after the introduction of Thunder LRMs, might be to forego long-range fire and use minefields to steer the enemy into the short-range fight your hatchet craves. For its flaws, however, the 2N may be the most famous Axman variant, particularly in Lyran space. As the personal ride of Adam Steiner, it contributed to the counterattack on Somerset. This would win it a role in a critically panned but popular propaganda holovid series, which helped deflate the Clans' image where they otherwise looked unstoppable. Experienced military personnel may roll their eyes at its holovid star status, but to a Fed Com citizen with limited experience in military affairs, the 2N is the Axman.
After the breakup of the Federated Commonwealth, the 1N and 2N models were in trouble. Spreading the supply chain across both the old Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns meant that Defiance Industries on Hesperus II and Johnston Industries on New Syrtis each had a limited supply of parts from which to build additional copies. When these ran out, it was back to the drawing board.
The Defiance team must have already had some ideas for updating the Axman to the state of the art: they quickly produced the AXM-3S, a refined version of the 1N that addresses many of the original's flaws. First, it replaces the XL fusion engine in the original with a slightly more robust Light version, which is a welcome change in a 'Mech that is expected to absorb close-range fire from other heavy 'Mechs. The added weight requires the removal of the large pulse laser, but the mediums are upgraded to extended-range versions and moved to the non-hatchet arm. The autocannon is replaced with the LB-20X, which is even scarier than the original. After the combination of class-20 slugs and hatchet blows open holes in a target's armor, the 3S can switch to cluster rounds and inflict maximum damage on internal components. The cluster rounds are also a menace to non-mech vehicles and to infantry, which are especially likely to be deployed in the Axman's favored urban environment. A much more generous 4 tons of ammunition provides ample reloads of both slugs and cluster rounds. Finally, a Guardian ECM suite is a valuable addition to a short-ranged ambush 'Mech. It will be more difficult for Beagle-equipped units to pin down a hidden Axman's location, when the Axman does strike, its victim won't be a spotter for C3-enhanced fire from its lancemates. Introduced in 3060, the 3S was available to face off against Davion-commanded 1N and 2N variants in the Civil War.
Johnston and the AFFS took longer to retool the Axman, and when they did, they departed a little further from the original. Both Davion variants would employ new NAIS-developed autocannon technology. Introduced in 3069, the AXM-3Sr mounted a rotary AC/5 in place of the larger gun. This gives it more range than the 1N, while potentially equaling the larger autocannon's throw weight. The large pulse laser is downgraded to a medium and moved to the torso, and as with the 3S, the 3 ER mediums appear in the left arm. A C3 slave gives the MechWarrior additional rewards for closing with the enemy. If the hatchet doesn't get them, accurate supporting fire probably will.
Two years later, the AXM-4D would show off more NAIS innovations. It may be the biggest departure from the original Hatchetman/Axman role, even more than the 2N was. The difference is its loss of jump jets. Removing jump jets from an already fairly slow mech transforms it from predator to prey in the dense urban environment that the 1N and 3S are suited to. The chances of closing with an enemy who doesn't want to are slim, and the Axman pilot can forget his dream of jumping and burying an axe in an enemy's thin rear armor. Instead, the 4D is primarily a medium-range gunboat. A quartet of light class 5 autocannons give it greater range than all but the 2N, although it is by no means a sniper. Combined with 2 medium lasers, they seem like a light punch for a groundbound 65-tonner that only runs at 64kph. The 4D, however, can be surprisingly dangerous. A targeting computer enhances the effectiveness of its guns, and the AXM-4D pilot who is trying to close to hatchet range, firing autocannons the whole time, can disable a target with highly accurate fire before ever reaching that range. Still, it is a light touch for its weight and an argument could be made that it would hit harder if one or two LACs were replaced with lasers (a switch to double heat sinks could have absorbed all of the extra load). Why didn't its designers agree? Clearly they wanted to demonstrate the new LAC and targeting computer, but they probably had another innovation in mind: the LACs are best matched with a supply of precision or armor-piercing ammunition. This is the big advantage the LACs have over alternative weapons, and when combined with the targeting computer they can be especially devastating. The only problem with this pairing is an echo of the 1N and 2N: just two tons of
information ammunition feed the four guns, and to cut that in half with advanced munitions leaves a 'Mech that can only take down one opponent before retiring to reload.
In 3074, the Defiance research team on Furillo produced another variant I should mention here, even though the AXM-6X is not an Axman. This is easy to verify by visual inspection: it doesn't carry an axe. Instead, the 6X frees up both hands to carry one of a variety of modular weapon pods, as a cheaper alternative to Omni technology. Perhaps the designers felt that the hatchet-wielder had hand and arm actuators easily adapted to this purpose, but more likely they chose the platform with politics in mind. Archon Adam Steiner would be a useful ally to bring the 6X into full production, and the team knew him to fondly remember his days in the Axman's cockpit. Sure enough, with his help Defiance would secure orders for the 6T production model, delivering the first in 3083. The 6X is amazingly fast for a heavy mech, as it adds a supercharger to its Clan-spec 325XL to run at over 100kph. Many a 3S or 4D MechWarrior has probably wished they had that speed when trying to close to hatchet range. The weapon pods, though innovative and versatile, don't contribute all that much firepower. They are limited to just one medium-sized weapon (LAC/5, NLRM-10, medium laser, MML-7, Streak-6) or a few small weapons (heavy flamers, fluid guns, LRM-5s). The mech's real punch comes from its twin shoulder-mounted Thunderbolt launchers (a callback to the LRM racks on Adam Steiner's 2N model) and the leg-mounted ER medium lasers. The 6X continues an Axman tradition by only providing a ton of reloads for each launcher. The 6T, after dropping the experimental supercharger (and switching to an Inner Sphere XL), frees up the tonnage to double that.
Not an Axman.Final Thoughts
The Axman and I go way back, so I was pleased I could cover it in this, my first fan article. If I recall correctly, I included the Axman in my first order of Ral Partha minis. The brutal single-mindedness of the 1N's “punch big holes at close range” appealed to me.
“If you say 'information is ammunition' one more time, I'm going to swing this axe in a very uncomfortable place.”
