I got bored, so I came back. Sucks to be you.
After the good response the Schildkrote article got, I kind of felt like ducking back in and doing another article sometime. But on what? A test run with a few vehicles this week gave me the answer in the form of one of the more... unusual... vehicles produced in 3145 (and that's saying something), the Hanse. It's good, it's bad, it's... interesting. Let's give it a look.
First and foremost, the background. Much like last week's Schildkrote, the Hanse (named for... ah... I can't imagine why the Federated Suns used that name for a tank, anyone? ;) )was intended for frontline work, and due to its problems was relegated to militias and other second-line action. And, just like its Lyran cousin, this no doubt has made for some happy militias- maybe. It depends on whether the militia commander is smart or not, I suppose. Anyway, the idea for the AFFS was to create a next-gen tank that would succeed the old Manticore, and in some ways they've created a very powerful vehicle to do the job. It just is missing a certain something.
As always with VotW, let's cut the Hanse open and look inside. On 75 tons, a 4/6 frame is pretty vanilla- not overly fast, but not shockingly slow either. Since this is intended for advances against enemy lines, it's manageable anyway. A supercharger gives the ability to make sudden dashes up to eight hexes per turn, which gives the vehicle the sudden lunge-forward ability that could really make life or death choices easier in bad terrain, or to just suddenly be up in someone's face in open terrain. The engine is an XL, which is good, because all the weight we saved got put right back into heat sinks. We'll look at that later.
Next, the armor test. The VotW AC-20 is loaded, and it's in for a long day- as a 75 ton front line tank should be, the Hanse is a brick, with eleven tons of ferro-fibrous armor. While advancing, the crew can take comfort in sixty-one points of armor on the fore- four Gauss slugs won't crack that armor, and three of the AC's shots have only made the tank angry. This is good news, since the vehicle is intended to always face towards its enemy- again, more later on that. But it's no less of a slouch elsewhere either- the sides have 48 points, plenty enough to hold off flanking attacks for a while, and even the rear holds 40, enough to hold off the test cannon twice before causing problems. Killing a Hanse won't be fun. And of course, the ammo load is protected by CASE because it's 3145 and who designs a tank without that anymore?
However. There's a problem. You may have noticed that we didn't take the test gun to the turret. And that is because there isn't one. Wha? An MBT with no turret? Why did... huh? Yeah, I know. It's still armed to the teeth, it's just... well... sad.
Remember those heat sinks we found earlier? We needed them, because up front on a Hanse is a pair of mighty plasma rifles. Shy of maybe the LB-10X, maybe no weapon in the game is a more fearsome weapon for a tank to use against its tracked brethren, and this thing packs two. Twenty rounds each is more than enough for most large engagements, and gives the vehicle an awesome punch, delivering a PSR and heat to Battlemechs and a ridiculous hammerblow against just about everything else ever conceived. This is fun, seriously. The backup weapon to the rifles is a light AC-5, because it's not a Davion unit without an autocannon on it. Two tons of ammo allow you to switch between specialty types- I'm not much of a light AC fan, but there is some utility here. I'd much rather see it replaced with an LRM-10 or something along those lines, but as a backup weapon to the rifles it's not a bad choice. All of this, again, is faced forward because turrets are for chumps.
Well, okay, just MAIN turrets. Two side-sponsons give us the concession to sanity on the Hanse's full-frontal design, with a pair of light MGs in each. Half a ton of ammo feeds all four guns, plenty enough for a battle. This is plenty to cause infantry to go away and not bother the Hanse, but little more than humorous to battle armor or flanking vehicles or Mechs. Being on sponsons though, their arcs are very good, at least.
So... the obvious problem here. This is obviously a tank intended to go face-first into the enemy's lines, using the supercharger to get a burst of speed and rush right up in someone's face. But with only the most basic side defenses, what then? Anything in front of a Hanse is in for a very rough day, but anything NOT in front of it is in for an easy kill- it can't defend itself once it's in amongst the enemy as designed. That's bad- and the AFFS thought so too, pulling the Hanse off the front lines and into the rear areas. Militia crews ended up with a tough, powerful tank that requires some careful use- and that's hardly a bad thing to have, really. Mercenary units have ended up with a good number of these beasts as well, and- if the MWDA game is to be believed- can be found in service with House Steiner (via the Stormhammers), the Steel Wolves (and whatever mutations they've gone through), and amusingly Clan Jade Falcon- stop and think about that for a moment, how Falcon-mindset is this tank? Falcon armor crews must really love their Hanses.
So, using a Hanse requires a careful eye, and it sure helps to keep it near friends with turrets so someone can play bodyguard to your beast. Mobility hits should cause you to immediately pull back with what movement you still have- if you get immobilized, you've had it, no one is going to pass up an easy kill like a tank that can't do anything in reply but hold up a 'HELP' sign.
Fighting it is pretty obvious too, in theory at least. Flank that thing with units that are fast enough to get into its side and rear arcs, and hit it with cluster weapons until it stops moving. Pegasus, Harassers, Plainsmans, Cavalries, all good choices for the job. Anything you can do to avoid being in front of it is, naturally, a good thing. Battle armor swarming is another good idea, since it lacks the ability to really hurt them other than pings from the LMGs- probably a good way to get your own Hanse once you patch up the holes and hose out the interior. Come to think of it, that would be a good explanation for the Falcons' Hanses. Ew.
Anyway. Go nuts, chat it up. No miniature of the Hanse has been made for CSO to show off, but if you really want to see them in 3D the MWDA sculpt is actually a very nice one.
