Vehicle of the Week: Vedette Medium Tank
Overview
Vedette: a mounted sentinel stationed in advance of pickets (Merriam-Webster). In essence, a position that a commander assigns to troops he doesn’t like in the hope that their screaming will provide early warning of a surprise attack. For those unfamiliar with the name, it is pronounced ‘Red Shirt’.
By all accounts, the Vedette, originally designed by the prolific folks at New Earth Trading Company (NETC), is a thoroughly genericized and commoditized product by the 31st century. TRO 3026R goes so far as to claim that the Vedette is actually a commonly recognized unit of measure among vehicle crews; an anecdote that brings to mind morbid Sherman crews trying to figure out just how many of them were going to bite it in order to clear out an entrenched Tiger in bocage country.
The Vedette is amazingly prolific. Showing up just about everywhere, the Vedette has reached the point where it might be more accurately described as a generic vehicle class like APCs or missile carriers. TRO:3039 goes so far as to claim that it is easily the most popular tank in every successor state. Aside from NETC, it is also produced (as of 3055) by Quikscell, Benson and Bjorn (inside the Ghost Bear OZ), Hellespont, United Outworlders Corporation, Pinard Protectorates Ltd, and Vandenberg Mechanized Industries. Arcturan Arms would enter the fray in the mid-3080’s with a bizarre attempt to pimp a shitcan.
And The Powers That Be said: Let There Be Cannon Fodder
The classic Vedette is simply armed and armoured. A Class-5 autocannon in the turret and a bow-mounted machine gun comprises the entirety of the Vedette’s armament-a configuration seen as far back as the Renault FT-17s of World War One and that no one has bothered to diverge from since 1940. The AC/5 is equipped with a single ton of ammunition, while a ton of machine gun ammunition ensures a plentiful supply of lead for varminting duties.
This is where we first encounter the Vedette’s multitude of variations. Depending on if you are using TRO:3026R, TRO:3039, or RS:3039, the original Vedette may have the machine gun in the front (3026 and RS:3039) or turret (TRO:3039) and may be equipped with either a half ton (both TROs – making the design underweight) or a full ton of ammo (RS:3039). Since the RS:3039 version is the only one that isn’t underweight, we’ll go with that one.
The Vedette is powered by a simple internal combustion engine that gives it a brisk 5/8 movement profile and all the rough terrain abilities conferred by a tracked motive system. Six tons of standard armour protect the Vedette, bizarrely spaced almost evenly around the tank with 20 points of armour on its turret, front hull, and rear hull, with 18 points protecting the flanks, an odd armour scheme even for the Battletech universe.
Two popular variants are noted to show up in pre-Succession War times. Both retain the same engine and armour as the original.
The Vedette Medium Tank (AC2) replaces the AC/5 with the smaller autocannon and a turret-mounted SRM-2, resembling the turret of many modern Infantry Fighting Vehicles. Liao troops are reported to be fond of a variant that replaces the autocannon with two medium lasers and uh… another ton of machine gun ammo. With energy weapons and that much ammunition, this one’ll let you oppress those durn peasants until the cows come home. And then you can oppress them too!
Foundtech: Now more Cannon per Fodder!
TRO:3039 explains that the main effect of the Helm memory core on Vedettes was by making it possible for even MORE manufacturers to tool up production. By 3058 though, NETC were forced to improve their Vedettes in order to compete with… other Vedettes. Turns out that although NETC had managed to hold on to the Intellectual Property rights to the Vedette for centuries, they had decided to license the design to Sian-based Hellespont industries. Hellespont then proceeded to violate their licensing agreement and withhold royalties while refusing to cease sales, forcing NETC to compete with their licensee. (No mention is made of any other Capellan-based Vedette manufacturers).
Noted here is that the original NETC upgrade switches to an Ultra AC/5, but keeps the bow machine gun, and uses Ferro-fibrous armour to add a measly two points of armour to the front.
The most common upgrade to the Vedette resembles the NETC upgrade, but drops the machine gun and upgrades the armour to 6.5 tons of Ferro-fibrous, still laid out fairly evenly at 25 points front/turret, 24 rear, and 21 side. Despite being marginally more survivable, this upgrade forces the Vedette into a pure anti-vehicle/anti-mech role, removing its most essential tool for keeping civil order.
Hellespont goes in the other direction and uses a LB-5x instead of the Ultra autocannon in order to bring back the machine gun so dearly missed by CCAF units in charge of keeping the downtrodden masses properly downtrodden, forgoing the flexibility of a second ton of autocannon ammo in favour of the trusty old machine gun.
The two more advanced NETC variants both reduce the armour in favour of more firepower. The RAC model is armed solely with a turret-mounted RAC/5 with two tons of ammo. In order to stuff this gun in, the armour was thinned to 22 points on the bow, but only 12 points on the turret, 14 on the sides, and 10 at the rear. The good news is that ammunition endurance is unlikely to ever be an issue.
Even more radical, the Light Gauss reduces armour even more to 11 points on the front and sides and 10 points on the turret and rear, creating the Battletech equivalent to US WW2 tank destroyers like the M10 Wolverine or M18 Hellcat. A single Light Gauss Rifle with a ton of ammo equips the Light Gauss Vedette, and a crew that wants to live long enough to use up all 16 shots would be well advised to use their tank’s range and speed judiciously so that they might be able to avoid ever using its armour (and therefore, actually survive an engagement).
Pimp a shitcan! OR Entirely missing the point of the Vedette
First up on our list of crazy variants is “Doris’ Delight” making use of 8.5 tons of ferro-fibrous to dramatically improve protection to 40 front, 30 side, 28 turret, and 24 rear. The hull machine gun is replaced with a ER Medium laser and the turret carries a gauss rifle with two tons of ammo. It all moves faster at 6/9 too. All this made possible through the use of a 300XL engine salvaged off a destroyed mech. Created by Duran “Bootleg” Daley, this monstrosity can’t be compliant with the AFFS’ battlefield salvage policies and Daley’s handle doesn’t help matters. Creator and machine disappeared during the fighting on New Avalon during the Jihad.
Chronologically, the next Vedette to take shape is the as-yet unnamed fuel cell powered Blakist model. Its design idiosyncrasies are enough to make one wonder if the Blakist design bureau’s cafeteria offered a mandatory all-you-can-eat paint chip buffet. The weight savings are spent entirely on weapons – the armour appears to be standard plate and is distributed identically to the 3025 models. For weapons, the main gun is upgraded to an attention-getting LB-10x and two tons of ammo, while a C3 slave allows better coordination. CASE and a bow-mounted AMS system help improve protection a bit. The bow machine gun gets swapped for a heavy machine gun with half a ton of ammo, a questionable choice given the HMG’s deficiencies. The sanity-questioning portion of the weapons suite though are a pair of SRM-2s feeding off a single ton of ammo, with one mounted in the turret, and the second in the rear. Did someone feel there was a glaring need to be able to fart rockets? With the same protection, the ability to act as a C3 spotter, and a much more potent main gun, expect the fuel cell Vedette to attract enemy attention that it is ill-prepared to survive.
From there on, new Vedettes take a turn from questionable to downright trippy. Apparently created by refit centers on Arcturus staffed by the Arcturan Hallucinogenic Enthusiasts Society, the V-GX7 sports such enhancements as dual turrets, a Bombast laser, and uh… a supercharged extra-light fusion engine. Yeah. This Vedette also sports reactive armour, with 25 points on the front, 23 points on the sides and rear, and 21 points on each turret. The second turret, by the way, houses a light autocannon/5, while the bow machine gun is replaced with a pair of magshot gauss rifles. With the supercharger engaged, the V-GX7 can hit 108 km/h, but otherwise keeps the same movement profile of regular Vedettes. Because it would otherwise have trouble hitting a barn from the inside with the Bombast laser, a targeting computer is included in this pimped-out shitcan. Just… don’t ask about the price.
After the refit shop blokes had finished convincing the Arcturan Arms executives of the merits of their bold new vision for where the Vedette (undoubtedly at a presentation enhanced by complimentary psychoactive compounds), the poor engineers of Arcturan Arms were forced to convert the V-GX7 into something resembling a production vehicle. Gone were the extravagant powertrain, secondary LAC turret, targeting computer, and unstable armour, replaced with a fuel cell engine and 5 tons of heavy ferro spread out 22 front, 20 side, 19 rear, and 18 turret. What remains is a bombast laser in the turret and a pair of bow Magshots, unnecessarily protected by CASE. True, the bombast laser will now have trouble hitting anything at full power, but at least prospective customers might actually be able to afford purchasing the Vedette V7. Even if it does possess the Poor Workmanship quirk, it should feel like a step up to any customer used to Quikscell-produced products.
Vedetta: Is the Vedette right for you?
Despite being the apparent ‘standard’ by which tanks are judged, Vedettes simply aren’t for everybody. Well, okay. Vedettes ARE for everybody, but not for everything. To determine if the Vedette is right for YOU, fill out the following questionnaire:
I am looking to equip:
a) A flagship house formation
b) An elite mercenary regiment
c) Hordes of barely literate thugs militia with which to oppress the peasantry
My armour crews can generally be summed up as:
a) The sons and daughters of the nation, to be afforded the very best
b) Valuable battle-hardened veterans who have survived countless battles
c) Barely literate thugs with which to oppress the peasantry
The most likely opposition I will face would be:
a) Another house’s massive invasion force
b) Clan shock troops
c) Pirates and rebellious peasantry
When push comes to shove, I will be fighting:
a) A long, violent campaign of attrition
b) A few short, intense battles
c) Decades of low-intensity counter-insurgency operations
The technological infrastructure of my world/city/nation-state is:
a) Almost as advanced as anyone has been since the fall of the Star League
b) Heavily industrialized, even if not quite cutting-edge
c) Barely literate thugs with which to oppress the peasantry
All kidding aside (let’s just pretend the Bombast laser versions don’t exist, mmkay?), the Vedette is all about the basic technology and mass numbers. I’d discount the official ultra autocannon version out of hand. Go with the NETC or Hellespont variants that keep that useful machine gun. The LBx version can serve as a light flak machine or a vehicle hunter with the cluster shot, but you won’t be able to carry both slugs and cluster rounds at the same time, not that the loss of a single 5 point hit is particularly noticeable. Better to try for the TACs. The 3025 medium laser variant is interesting, but inefficient. It’s short-ranged and requires power amplifiers and heat sinks to put out the kind of firepower a Stinger carries. The Word of Blake Vedette is best avoided. With its heavy BV cost, odd secondary armament, and light armour, they represent an easy target for an opponent looking to remove mobile firepower from your force for minimal investment of effort.
Should you ever need to actually use the Vedette in combat, remember that there is strength in numbers. It may be a fifty ton vehicle, but in terms of firepower, it should be treated like a low-end light mech. This tank is badly hobbled by the value that BV2 places on armour. Any BV2, weight, or force-size multiplier balanced game is a game no Vedette has a place in. There are more versatile vehicles that give more utility for the BV.
Frankly, from the moment the Myrmidon became available, the Vedette has been completely superseded for combat operations. The Myrmidon is under twice the BV2 than the level 1 Vedette, carries 50% more armour, moves just as fast, has a main gun that fire nearly as far for twice the damage, and with the SRM, can lay low more infantry faster with frag rounds. Oh, and it’s under double the price of the original Vedette too.
What the Vedette IS perfect for is as cheap NPC unit for a GM to throw at players. They’re not outright suicide machines like SRM carriers and they have incredibly granular lethality. Just keep adding Vedettes to the Big Bad’s redshirt army until you achieve the right level of challenge for the PCs. With a single LRM-20 on par with a Vedette lance for firepower, the Vedettes will give PCs something to shoot up, but will take a few tries to put down. Similarly, any conventional army that the PCs might be aiding can be built by incorporating massive numbers of Vedettes. Just don’t try to use them to dislodge say… an entrenched Demolisher II in bocage country if you need them as active units instead of as smoking wrecks.
If tanks were burgers, the Vedette would be the plain McDonald’s hamburger: A completely unremarkable but serviceable lowest-common denominator vehicle to be chewed up and forgotten. It costs more BV2 or C-bills than you’d like for what it offers in return, and does a lot to perpetuate the attitude that tanks are inferior to mechs.
As a mediocre machine offering poor value, the Vedette earns a evil despot score of C. Use only if you want to gear your mooks up just like every other two-bit despot out there. For those looking for the latest and greatest vehicular method with which to oppress the peasantry, tune in next week.
