"Hey, at least it isn't a J-27, right? Hah ha hah... god, I need a drink."A quick return to the vehicle stomping grounds, brought upon by a thread discussing the Scorpion tank vs. the Scorpion Battlemech. The discussion got me thinking about the tank, and when I looked I realized that there's no article about it here (the previous one appears to have been lost to time). How hard can it be to look in and run down this thing on a Friday afternoon? (There's still not enough material to bring this column back full-time, but how does one resist when THIS is un-discussed?)
The Scorpion is one of those timeless machines that shows up in every non-Clan military out there, including little militias and pirate bands. It's small, cheap as hell, and marginally effective, and that's generally a hallmark of... yep, it's made by Quikscell. The plan was to make a small 'conventional' tank, and in that regard this may be the most 'real world' looking of any combat vehicle in Battletech (along with the Hetzer, of course), with a low-slung body and square-cornered, flat turret on top. There's nothing remarkable or attention-grabbing in the looks of the Scorpion (see above), and that's intriguing in and of itself. In a universe of odd-looking units like the Turhan or Rhino, this is a sight familiar to a 21st-century resident flung a thousand-odd years into the future. (Likely not their biggest concern in that instance, of course)
At 25 tons, the Scorpion is small by tank standards, which of course is unsurprising- if you're building a budget tank, you want to stay small. The larger the vehicle, the larger its engine needs, and thus cost goes up. The speed also needs to be kept in check for the same reason- and as as a result the Scorpion's movement is what one would call average for its day, 4/6. Plenty enough to keep pace with most large Mechs and vehicles (with the usual pavement bonus), but not fast enough that costs go up. Naturally the engine is an ICE system (again, budget), which precludes operating energy weapons without special equipment.
If you buy a budget tank, you have two things in mind in terms of durability. 1) My tank shouldn't be a waste of money, dying from a single hit before it does anything worthwhile, and 2) if it does go down, I don't want to be out a fortune. Scorpions... look, this thing's 25 tons, what do you really want out of it? And yet, for its size a Scorpion is a surprisingly tough customer, able to take a PPC hit anywhere and survive. Four tons of plating (standard, of course) coat the tank in a modest shell, with 16 points on the front and turret, 11 on the sides, and 10 on the rear. That kind of balance tells you a lot- Scorpions are expected to face enemies from all directions, so prepare to take hits anywhere. Considering the usual product from this manufacturer, this is a welcome thing.
"You laugh now, but this thing took work- when it arrived it was nothing but several armor plates, a cannon, instructions in Swedish, and an allen wrench..."When it comes to weaponry, we keep it simple and 20th-century feeling. The turret features an AC-5, backed by 20 rounds of ammo. Nothing spectacular, or even all that dangerous really, but several Scorpions engaging a target can hit from respectable range and add up pretty quickly. A machine gun in the snout (backed by a half ton of ammo) is enough to cause infantry to worry a bit. There's nothing here to write home about really, but it keeps to the simple, rugged, and cheap nature of the tank- and like so many smaller units, its danger increases exponentially the more of them you have.
As you can imagine, the autocannon's somewhat lacking abilities prompted a number of refits, almost always involving a swap to another main weapon. An LRM version drops both guns to gain an LRM-10 and LRM-5 in the turret, each with their own ton of ammo. This is handier than you might think- while normally using different sized missile racks on the same unit is a sin (see: Thor E), here the 10-rack provides firepower while the 5-rack can supply things like smoke or (in later years) minefields. I'm a fan of this for a cheap little bombardment unit with a few tricks up its sleeve. A full ton of extra armor, spread across the tank, finishes this handy little unit.
Somewhat less effective (but still plenty handy) is a version packing two medium lasers in the turret. This required heat sinks and power converters, and increases costs as a result. The lasers each hit as hard as the old AC, but with drastically reduced range- if that's okay for your uses, such as in an urban area, this may not be a bad idea. The nose-mounted MG remains here, and a one-ton cargo bay allows you to bring a lunch. It's a toss-up between range and power on whether or not this is more useful to your style of play over the standard model.
One of the author's favorite vehicles in all of Battletech is a version that strips the cannon for two SRM-6 racks. That's pretty hefty firepower for its size, and with the SRM's shotgun effect it becomes an excellent (and cheap, did we mention cheap?) way to get motive hits on enemy armor, finish off damaged Battlemechs, make infantry regret getting out of bed, and a number of other handy roles. Even better, three tons of ammunition allow it to lay down fire forever and a day in battlefield terms, and give you the ability to bring in assorted ammunition types like smoke or inferno to make life interesting. This was an unholy nightmare in the old BMRr days, when a single inferno missile could end a Demolisher in one hit, but even under current rules this is a marvelous unit for all your valet needs- tank parking has never been more fun!
In the post-Clan invasion era, a new version cropped up combining newer weapons with the same frugal mindset- MRMs. An MRM-20 is crammed into the turret, Two tons of ammo are plenty for most operations. If you like MRMs this is handy, but you tend to not put good tank crews in a budget tank- which means aiming a weapon with a built-in handicap to-hit number is going to be a little tough to do for a Scorpion crew. This is best avoided in favor of the other two missile versions, honestly.
"For the last time, stop trying to stick your mother-in-law under the flails, we're trying to keep this thing clean!"
In the Prototypes TRO, we got a couple more versions. Liao has added minesweeping gear to the homely Scorpion (because someone has to clean up all those thrice-damned Thunder munitions after the fight!), backing this handy gear with a pair of LRM-5s in the turret. Three tons of ammo often are mine-clearance missiles (following the theme of the tank), but standard or even more minelaying rounds are just as useful- you have the ammo bay for it, have fun! The MG remains as well, just in case.
The production version of the experiment above keeps the weaponry the same, but switches to a fuel cell engine, and uses the weight savings to use hardened armor. A six ton shell makes for a remarkably tough little minesweeper with a sting of its own to boot, and should be considered over the experimental model if you have the option.
Scorpions show up everywhere- there's likely not a military in the Inner Sphere and Periphery that doesn't have a couple of them at least. And when there's that many, there's likely countless other field bashes and such. What would you do with a Scorpion? refit? Any good tactics? Stories?
Have a good weekend, guys, thanks for visiting again!
