"We can't all do the big-arms thing, we'll look like a squadron of bloody Spitfires!"Hi.
So, I haven’t done one of these in a while, but since one of these just came across my workbench to build it got me thinking about the design. And as I so often do, my first stop for research was the Fan Articles area to see if anyone’s done an analysis of the machine. Alas, no such luck. So, if no one’s done it, I’ll throw myself on the sword and make a one-day comeback. Let’s talk about the Vulture IV, hereafter referred to as the Howard The Duck- wait, we can’t call it that? Fine, Vulture IV. Lawyers…
So, the first thing to do here is to get the obvious out of the way. There’s no way around comparisons to the original, much-beloved Mad Dog Omnimech that served with distinction in the Clan invasion, along with more than a few conflicts before and after that point. All four of the heavy Omnimechs we saw in TRO:3050 got updated models in the Dark Age era, with varying degrees of change made. The Vulture’s changes are far more basic than those of the Mad Cat or Loki, at least on the inside- externally, the machine’s look is radically different, yet still very much recognizable as related to its father design- the back-canted legs, hunched-over birdlike form, missile racks often found in the side torsos, etc.- the basics haven’t changed, it just learned a few new tricks. Where the Mad Cat went with a crazy new engine, and the Loki dropped speed to become a heap of guns with feet poking out, the Vulture (and Thor) decided not to mess with success.
So why make a new Vulture at all? Well, the Sea Foxes (or whatever they call themselves this week) are, as ever, interested in selling arms. And with other classic Clan Mechs being redesigned, it only made sense to come up with a new version of the Vulture to sell to anyone who could rub two coins together. Note that this means the design shares lineage with, but has no relation to, the Vulture Mk.III built by the Ghost Bear Dominion- actually, this design stays closer to the original than the Bears did with their version. Among the changes they DID make were to make the previously-anemic torso much beefier, moving the small ‘waist’ to a position to the rear of the body and angling it to make it a difficult target, and other minor changes that have no effect on the design in terms of gameplay.
We find that the 60-ton Mech still has the same old engine under the hood, a 300XL that moves Ducky here to a perfectly respectable 5/8 movement curve. When the Clans invaded in 3050 this was awe-inspiring speed for a heavy Mech, something the Inner Sphere had a great deal of trouble reacting to, but by now this is a pretty standard setup for a Mech this size. No new XXL motor or any of that, which means durability- a Vulture IV can lose a side torso and still toddle off towards a repair bay, something the new Savage Wolf can’t claim as easily. This also keeps costs down- an important consideration for the Foxes when it comes to sales. After all, an XXL motor costs as much as a whole Star of decent Clan mediums, while this is (by Clan standards) a bargain design- which means it finds its way to more hands.
The original Vulture had a modest amount of armor, enough to take a few hits and keep going but not enough to stand up to heavy weapons for very long. With most configurations intended to stay back and cause problems form a distance, that wasn’t as big of a problem as it could have been with more close-range oriented designs (hello, Loki!), but it was definitely the least-appealing aspect to the Vulture. With their upgrade, the Foxes clearly wanted to fix that problem- and went with new technology to do just that. Where the original packed eight and a half tons of Ferro-Fibrous armor, the new Ferro-Lamellor armor is used here- and not only uses that tougher, heat-resistant material, but adds six more tons of it. This allows Ducky to stand up to a hell of a lot more punishment than before- no small consideration, as new weapons and equipment on the modern battlefield make the old design’s thin armor even more problematic than before. While it provides less armor per ton, it reduces the amount of damage a weapon can cause (and thus provides a net gain) while also being invulnerable to treats like Mech tasers. Placement is fairly generic, with 9 points up top, 30 points in the center torso, 20 on the sides, 20 more in the arms, 28 in the legs, and a rear of 10 in the center and 8 in the rear (so don’t let anyone back there, as standard).
Weaponry remains the focal point- where the old Vulture was fragile, but moved quickly and packed a previously unheard-of punch for a Mech this size, this feels a little more tame due to the advances of time and technology. We actually LOST three tons of pod space, but most configurations feel like a Vulture- missiles are the priority weapon in most layouts. All versions carry at least one ammo-free weapon as well, a lesson no doubt learned from use of Vulture C configs in the Jihad/Wars of Reaving turning out badly. Or DID they learn anything...? Let's see where things go a bit haywire.
We start with the Prime, which feels very familiar to fans of the Vulture A. An ER PPC’s hellish power takes up the right arm, with an aircraft’s worst nightmare- an LB-5X- mirroring it in the left, just like the older design. The side torso have SRMs in them, but less this time- where the original packed three SRM-6 racks in each side, the Duck has only two due to the lost pod space. However, a pair of ER small pulse lasers now sit in a chin mount (similar to the Mk.II and Mk.III Vultures) as a useful anti-infantry deterrent- no small consideration for a Mech intended to close in on an enemy, particularly in the Dark Age era of combined arms warfare. One ton of ammo for the LBX means picking an ammo type and sticking with it (cluster, DUH) and an anemic two tons is shared by the four SRM racks. Powerful, but short-legged, this config is best used when you have access to ammunition-loading facilities near the front- otherwise you’ll find that PPC is your only friend very soon.
An interesting departure is the A, which doesn’t have a very clear analogy in the previous Omnimechs’ repertoire. A large pulse laser- long one of the Clans’ most devastating weapons- takes up that right arm mount, with a big Ultra AC-10 and its two tons of ammo stuffed in the left. (The author’s hatred of putting heavy ballistic weapons on a mid-sized chassis knows no bounds!) The missile racks, normally the Vulture’s signature, are reduced to a pair of LRM-5s in each side, fed by a ton of ammo to each pair for a fairly average LRM bombardment loadout. Two ER small lasers take up the chin mount as an afterthought. The author has no idea what the intent of this design is- the missiles are too few to subject a target to any real threat, the cannon takes up too much weight for too little output… it isn’t a bad Mech, but it lacks any clear-cut role. The LRM-5s do suggest that loading up a ton of your favorite flavor of Thunder LRM might be entertaining though, if you’re a Vulture IV buyer who enjoys that kind of thing. (Paging House Liao…)
The B starts looking much more familiar- THIS is the Vulture we remember, with a big LRM rack in each side! The ER PPC from the Prime takes its place in the right arm again, but the left now holds a paltry medium pulse laser. The ER small lasers from the A remain in the chin mount. The massive reduction in weight put into that left arm mount means the missile bays are much more powerful than configuration A could boast- twin Streak LRM-15s will throw down about the same average damage per salvo as the LRM-20s on the Vulture Prime a hundred years earlier. Ammunition problems again rear their ugly head though, limiting each launcher to eight salvos- while the Streak system means these all will hit, of course, the fact that you only have eight salvos will hurt in anything longer than a brief skirmish. Perhaps the Foxes are making their money off selling ammunition haulers these days?
Config C was always the oddball of the original Vulture’s early configs- where the others relied on missiles to make their money, that one stuffed in two big Gauss rifles and nothing else. Here, the Foxes kept that feel, but kept ammo reliance in mind. The left arm packs that familiar Gauss rifle, with the expected two tons of ammo, but the right arm instead carries an Improved Heavy Large Laser, providing similar damage (though with less range). That also saves enough weight to tack on a targeting computer, making both weapons much more dangerous. The chin mount returns again as well, this time with two deadly ER medium lasers. A Vulture made into a direct-fire trooper design? Truly we live in the future. The loss of pod space is made up for by intelligently identifying a weapon that could do the job of the old Gauss rifle for less weight, and makes for a remarkably handy configuration- and the first one to not be utterly crippled by poor choices in ammunition carriage. One more heat sink is tacked onto the original twelve to help with the heat from the lasers.
Finally, Configuration D mirrors its pre-Jihad parent by focusing on the massive ATM-12 rack as a primary weapon. Each side torso gets one stuffed in, with two tons of ammo stored with them. Another ton (for six total) get installed in the arms. Backup weaponry is provided by an Improved Heavy Medium Laser in each arm, and a pair of ‘I guess’ micro pulse lasers put into the chin mount. Two more heat sinks help keep the party going in tough combat. The ATM is just as useful in 3150 as it was in 3070, and so the D is a devastating opponent to use. Do remember that these are standard ATMs and NOT the Society’s iATM, so you’re limited to the original three ammo types. Boo-hoo.
There’s a lot to like and dislike here. The obvious is the trade-off of weaponry in favor of armor, and while the new armor is undoubtedly an improvement the loss of a mere three tons of pod space forced some very odd design choices to be made sometimes. The Prime and B configurations are utterly wretched in terms of ammunition loadouts, to a point that anything more than a Clan trial is going to run it dry quickly, while the A makes the choice to pack a big and inefficient cannon in place of any meaningful missile loadout. The C and D very much redeem the design though and should be used frequently by players, particularly the C- which is, of course, the least Vulture-esque of any of them. Go figure.
Regardless of its flaws, the Vulture IV has become a success, with every major military in the Inner Sphere (including all of the Clans) using the Mech in modest numbers at the very least. The Foxes gambled far less openly here than they did with the Savage Wolf, and the results are a solid customer available on the (relatively) cheap to any and all comers- which likely means Vulture-on-Vulture fights are not uncommon as the Inner Sphere descends yet again into chaos and war.