"We'll pick them up, HQ... But, who the hell is Seal Team 6?"I'm a day early due to my local gaming group switching to Sunday for this week. I was a day late the previous couple of weeks due to the huge Omni articles, so this should help even the karma a bit. ;)
We haven't gone flying in a while, and I needed something simple for this week after the marathons of the past two weeks. (Of note, I was dismayed and amused that the somehow-revived Hetzer article had a far more lively discussion last week than the massive Bandit article prompted! I guess people aren't as into Bandits?). The result was covering a request for a simple transport chopper... or anyway, that's what I thought it was going to be. Instead... well, there's a lot going on here to enjoy if you're a Capellan fan, and a lot to be very, very worried about if you're a fan of any of the neighboring folks.
The appearance of battle armor in the arsenals of the Clans in 3050 changed warfare as the Inner Sphere knew it, and it was soon after that we began seeing nations attempt their own suits. The four-man squads required something more substantial in terms of capacity than the existing APCs did, and over time as battle armor have increased in variety so too have the means of moving them about. By the Dark Age, there's no doubt that an army isn't complete without armored infantry- they're as much a vital asset as any Battlemech. But the fact remains that moving them can be difficult sometimes, and anything that ensures they reach the field safely is vital. Having them shot off the hull of an Omnimech before they reach the field, then is subpar. So too is finding the vehicle they were moving around in has been disabled or destroyed, and they've become the eggs inside a smashed egg carton. So you want to move them safely, but quickly enough that they arrive when you need them to. It appears that House Liao took these requirements to heart in the post-Jihad era, and the Shun is an impressive testament to their efforts.
We start by opening the engine bay, as usual, and we find a surprise there. Even in the Dark Age, where vehicles are as likely to have advanced and expensive equipment as a Mech, finding an XL engine in a mere transport chopper is a surprise- and hints at just how intriguing this aircraft really is. The non-fossil fuel power plant means heat sinks, which see use in the armor, and the the miniscule weight means the Shun moves at a respectable 7/11 movement curve. That's not going to win a ton of awards- the stalwart old Karnov, for example, runs rings around it. But it's plenty enough to quickly move in and drop off the troops, and at the end of the day anything the Shun does revolves around doing that job as efficiently as possible. 7/11 is fine for transport duty.
The armor is perhaps not a huge surprise to Liao fans- we have stealth armor on this, with the ECM suite needed to power it and the heat sinks to run it. The speed, combined with the armor's bonuses, should mean that Shuns will be hard to hit as they approach an LZ. The surprise is in the amount of that armor- even if a Shun does get hit by lucky shots, it's not likely to care. The AC-20 test isn't often used on a VTOL- why bother?- but here it is completely stymied by six tons of protection! ALL locations (rotor aside obviously) can survive an AC-20 blast without even breaching the armor. The front and rear have 24 points, the sides another 23, suggesting that Shuns are intended to land in amongst an enemy formation to unload their deadly cargo, and thus might take fire from any direction as they do so. Dropping a Shun, then is a challenge- it's hard to hit it to begin with, it doesn't much mind if it does get hit now and then. This is one tough egg carton.
The eggs inside will have to provide their own fire support, because Shuns don't really waste much time on helping the cause. Two Mydron Magshot gauss rifles (thanks, Davion!) are fitted under the nose, sharing one ton of ammo. These give nice range to the Shun, without using the heat sinks up. But... not much damage, so enemies aren't likely to run for cover to escape an angry Shun. Maybe they should though... tucked in with those rifles is a TAG laser. What's worse than an impossible-to-kill chopper showing up with a horde of infantry in your backfield? Getting nailed by homing missiles called in by nearby Catapults and the like as the Shuns make their drop. Ohhhhhh, that hurts. It's one of the few things not devoted to making infantry delivery on the Shun, but it's a huge capability for it. Even after the troops are dropped off, a Shun can make high-speed(ish) passes on tough enemy targets, relying on its stealthy, tough skin to protect it, providing support to artillery. Considering the Capellan love of Arrow artillery, that's no small consideration.
EDIT: Putting the final article together, I managed to accidentally cut the mention of the one-ton targeting computer guiding the rifles. This is an odd choice on the Shun, since really it doesn't help the guns a great deal, not nearly as much as, say, more Magshots or a couple of rocket launchers would. But, if you're already investing in an XL engine, stealth armor, etc., why the hell not go totally nuts? Plus it's another little swipe at the Federated Suns, and that's never a bad thing.That only leaves the infantry bay... a cavernous, 12-ton bay that can hold three squads of battle armor, or four of regular infantry, or a full weeks' worth of medication for the Chancellor. There's no shortage of fun ideas for what to stuff in there- the Amazon was a fun one to tinker with in practice, as well as the ubiquitous Fa Shih, but don't forget the new heavy Shen Long as an option as well- with its wide array of options in terms of weapons to haul, a few Shuns hauling Shen Longs can wildly change the tide of a battle with ease. Even regular infantry, like SRM platoons, aren't to be forgotten. Surprise anti-Mech platoons dropped into a choke point can be very concerning. And of course, there's Death Commandos... Maybe best not to continue that thought.
No variants exist (which is why I picked this thing this week in the first place, if I'm honest), but there's not a lot to change really anyway- hardly anything about it isn't perfectly designed for the job at hand. It's not a cheap option for infantry transport, but it's hard to imagine a unit better overall for the job. Can you? Any ideas for use? Get devious, Capellan fans, and we'll see you next week.
