The Dragonfly – Someone REALLY hated Infantry when designing this thing.A somewhat ‘young’ design the Dragonfly (or Viper to give it the Clan name, I prefer the Spheroid one though) was Clan Fire Mandrils earliest attempts to build an OmniMech. Built to be a quick strike and harassing unit the Mech suffered reliability issues with its pods that made it fall out of favour with the Mandrils Kindraa until they just gave up with the whole thing and traded the design to Clan Ghost Bear.
The Bear’s upped the factory and inadvertently made possibly the first modular factories and moved the whole facility to Strana Mechty. Here they fixed the Dragonfly’s finicky pods and got the Mech working and decided to run with it.
Doctrinally the Dragonfly was teamed up with the nippy Fire Moth, possibly in a ‘big brother’ kind of way but all was not well. To get its formidable performance the Dragonfly sacrificed a great deal of pod space, letting smaller Mech’s carry more weapons, making it almost uniformly under gunned and thus a liability in a trial or duel where even a Dasher could outgun a Mech twice its weight.
It wasn’t until decades later that the Dragonfly finally found its true home as a support unit for Combined Arms units using both Elementals and Mechs whilst more modern weapons offered more versatility. Still this Mech is a balancing act that’s hard to get right.
At 40 tons the Dragonfly isn’t a big Mech but it is very fast for its size. With a 320 rated XL engine the Mech can hit 129kph on open ground whilst a full array of jump jets can throw it into massive 240 meter leaps (8/12/8 in game terms.) This is formidable by any standard and when encountered by the Inner Sphere it must have been worrying to find a 40-ton Machine that could run as fast as a Locust and out jump a Spider.
Every bit of weight saving went into the Mech’s design, an Endo-Steel skeleton holds the XL engine whilst Ferro-Fibrous armour, a useful 7 tons of it shields the Mech from hostile fire. The armour scheme is good, each major facing and limb can take a hit from a standard PPC and still have protection left whilst the chest can (barely) absorb a gauss rifle hit.
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But this speed and jumping agility comes at a cost in pod space, whilst the designers didn’t fit any extra heatsinks (they were all stolen by the Executioners and Gargoyles) you’re left with miserable 8.5 tons of pod space which on a 40-ton machine does not equate to much at all. Still the design’s popularity (with it being built by the Bears, Mandrils, Hellions and Horses) saw a LOT of configs, most of them made to obliterate squishies for some reason.
VariantsPrime – I’ll be polite and say the Prime is not very good. Firepower starts off promising with a pair of Medium pulse lasers and a SRM-4 but then two and a half tons of precious pod space are used on a pair of machine guns and an AMS with its ton of ammo. The Prime is grossly under gunned for a Mech its size and it’s only a threat to light Mech’s who can’t run away from it or an equal sized Medium like a Sentry. Anything bigger can either ignore the Prime or gun it down and it’s a very brave Prime pilot who takes on something like a Stormcrow or bigger. You’re reliant on your speed and jumping to keep you safe whilst trying to get round your foe for back shots. Otherwise you’re nibbling away all day with your limited firepower.
Alfa – Here we go! Firepower! The Scientist responsible for this one seems to have stolen a Nova Prime’s arm and then dotted the 5 ER Mediums on the arm all over the Mech before also slapping on a SRM-6 with Artemis FCS added for extra punch. Due to the limited pod space there’s no extra heat sinks so a full alpha will start overheating you but not so bad as to start causing immediate issues, and you’ve still got the speed and jump jets to get you out of trouble if you do overheat. With 5 x ER Mediums the Alfa is a rather nasty backstabber and can be a serious threat to other mediums and can shred any light that can’t run from it. This thing is the bane of Bugs and the Classic 55 tonners as it considerably outguns the larger designs whilst outrunning and outgunning the smaller ones.
Bravo – A bit of an oddball, a direct fire support Mech and thankfully the Scientists didn’t go “Hey this thing needs an Ultra AC-2.” Nope instead they had taken their smart pills this day and went with an ER PPC, the famed and feared headcapper of Clan guns. Then the smart pills wore off and they fitted a bevy of close range anti-infantry guns. A pair of small pulse lasers and a flamer form the rest of the Mech’s firepower, but it’s all about the ER Peeper. Jump and run around at long range and keep vomiting lightning. If you have to use your point defence weapons on a Bravo you’ve either done something very wrong or your enemy has done something very right.
Charlie – To me this config is a bit of an oddball. If it was built in the VERY early 3000’s, this is still after the introduction of battle armour, at which point the Clans would have completely abandoned standard infantry unless it was for Solhama or Dark Caste hunting units. So why did they build a walking anti- standard infantry war crime? With four Machine guns and two Flamers the Charlie can obliterate an infantry formation in a few heartbeats whilst seeking out any survivors with its Active Probe. Three tons of ammo for the MG’s is totally excessive and two ER Medium lasers round out the armament. Until Operation Revival I can’t see this config being used at all outside of Smoke Jaguar riot control operations or if a nest of Dark Caste bandits was found that needed to be exterminated with extreme prejudice.
Delta – Seemingly a multi-role Dragonfly the Delta tries to be a jack of all trades and like all Jack of all trades it does its job if not spectacularly. A LRM-5 provides a very limited long range harassment fire capacity, although in later periods this could be put to better use firing smoke or thunder munitions. As the range drops a pair of ER Mediums and a Streak SRM-6 come into play giving it adequate fire at mid-range whilst an ER Small laser fills out the final bit of tonnage and gives an extra boost up close. All in all, its not bad, and honestly I’d have been happier if this was the Prime version, it’s not spectacular but it’s not (too) bad either. The lasers and streaks also mean you can shoot up Battle armour or immobilize tanks with a good chance of success.
Echo – New toys and as it’s not a H its ATM time. An ATM-6 and three tons of ammo gobbles up a big chunk of the tonnage but on such a mobile platform the ATM-6 is a nasty weapon. The Dragonfly can dart into HE missile range, slap you with them and then dart out again, making it a good harasser and flanker. Supporting the missiles is an ER medium laser and a pair of ER Smalls allowing it to blast away if you need to conserve ammo or don’t want to take a shot with the ATM. The Echo is one of the better configs out there and the versatile ATM finds a good home on the Dragonfly, making them a good combination of weapon and weapon platform.
Foxtrot – More new toys, the F is what happens when someone who REALLY hates infantry and likes living dangerously gets to make a Mech config. EIGHT heavy machine guns spread between a pair of Machine gun arrays can spew out a surprisingly heavy punch between them but a mere ton of ammo means you can actually run out of ammo rather quickly. A trio of ER medium lasers also add to the punch but the F does its best damage at point blank range. This is a Mech to live VERY dangerously in. Sure, you can slap someone with 24 points of damage from the Machine guns alone but you’ve got to get so close you’ll be able to count the individual rivets on your opponent to do so. Not a place you want to be in a rather fragile 40 tonner. This variant naturally suits using the Mechs agility and speed to its fullest.
Golf – More new toys and this time its bleeding edge stuff, a newly developed Plasma cannon and its somewhat limited 1 ton of ammo let you do horrific things to infantry, battle armour and harass Mechs with heat issues. More anti-infantry murder comes in the form of a quartet of AP Gauss rifles whilst a Heavy Medium laser forms the only ammo independent weapon whilst a Light Active probe lets this infantry killer hunt for its prey. With the plasma the Golf is infinitely more flexible than the F or C as it can shut down tanks and kill infantry with ease and at longer range than their machine guns whilst the APGRs can also slaughter infantry and plink away at tanks and Mechs whilst the heavy large laser can also cut holes in hostile Mech’s. Still against big targets that are not tanks, the Golf’s firepower is woefully limited (but still greater than the Primes) and you’ll have to fight carefully against a Mech.
Hotel – Heavy laser time and the Dragonfly H is surprisingly sane to the point that it’s a bit..boring for a heavy laser boat. Instead of reaching for the Heavy Large laser, the H features paired ER Mediums as well as a duo of Small pulse lasers and two Heavy Medium lasers, whilst an AMS provides a decent layer of protection. The ER Mediums mean you don’t immediately have to run into another Mech’s personal space to do damage but the H does its best work at short ranges where it can either bring all its guns to bare or you’ve got the best chance of hitting someone. Still its only a 40-ton Mech so don’t go into slugging matches against bigger machines, use the speed and agility inherent to the design to dance around bigger foes. But this Mech can also totally bully smaller Mechs and it’s a fearsome killer of light’s.
India – The I is another Heavy laser boat but more akin to the traditional H designs we expect to see. An ATM-3 with 1 ton of ammo provides some ranged firepower, depending on the ammo choice of course. For close in punch a trio of Heavy Medium lasers can do messy things to bigger Mech’s if it gets behind them whilst a targeting computer counters the lasers inherent inaccuracy. The close in punch betray this variant’s Hellion origins and make the I well suited towards the Hellions unique take on Zell and their preferred pack tactics. Finally, a Light active probe let the I hunt for hiding foes whilst an AMS shields it on the approach, probably meaning this variant started out as a H.
This variant is a 40-ton bully, use the speed and agility to make a mess of hostile light and mediums whilst also look to give any big Mech that gives you its back a heavy laser surprise.
Uniform – A REAL oddball and one I don’t know who it was designed by. Built for space operations and boarding actions the U is very specialised in its role it’s also a rarity in Clan designs as it mounts a melee weapon, and this was far before the Falcons went claw/talon crazy. To support its space operations the U carries a liquid storage tank to provide fuel for its jump jets whilst an ECM and AMS provide two layers of protection. Firepower is very limited with it being nothing more than a pair of ER Medium lasers, meaning this is the one config that the Prime outguns (which is something I guess?) Finally, it mounts an eye opener, or can opener, in the form of a hatchet. The ONLY Clan Mech to do so. Because of its hyper specialised nature, the U config will almost certainly not be seen on the ground and would only be found in space battles.
Zulu – DAS IST VERBOTEN!!! THIS CONFIG DOES NOT EXIST!!! Joking aside, it does. The Society did quite a number on the Z and made the most of the Dragonfly’s limited pod space but what they essentially made was basically an I and may indeed be based on the Hellions config, just updating the weapons as was the Societies want. With a trio of Improved Heavy medium lasers the Z isn’t lacking for punch even if the lasers will explode if hit. A iATM-3 (or StreakTM if you want) with a single ton of ammo provides ballistic firepower, but with the focus on short range crunch you’ll probably choose HE ammo for the Z. A laser-AMS protects the Mech whilst a Light TAG lets it call in artillery strikes but its real secret weapon is the C3 esque Nova CEWS. This system allowed the usually poorly trained Society Warriors to act with a surprising amount of coordination and enhance the accuracy of their guns by feeding targeting telemetry to other members of their Trey. Because of this and its close range crunch the Z probably acted as a spotter for its Trey, using its speed to get in range and allow bigger Mech’s to engage safely from longer range.
ThoughtsThe Dragonfly is to me a Mech that tries to do too much with too little. Really the Clan’s didn’t need another Medium 8/12 mover, the larger Fenris can hit this speed whilst the Koshi is smaller and can jump nearly as far. If it was a 7/11/7 the tonnage saved could have been put to better use but oh well, we go with what we’ve got.
Variants wise it’s a mix bag. The Prime’s quite frankly terrible and is of more use as an Elemental taxi and support unit rather than going after a hostile Mech but things like the A, B and E for example pack enough of a wallop to be respectable. This is a design that comes into its own with the later generation configs as the early REVIVAL ones are generally adequate at best. Still this thing is fast and agile, and can outrun most Inner Sphere Mech's its size or smaller allowing it to get into position to nibble away with its guns.
Fighting one is more a case of hitting the damn thing. Its a 40 ton Mech, you hit it hard, its going to suffer for it, but with its mobility and speed, actually hitting one is not as easy as it sounds. Also beware the Dragonfly not for its firepower, but what its carrying, if its got 5 tons of ablative armour...err..I mean Elementals onboard then don't let this thing come close otherwise its a case of "And you get a Swarm attack and YOU get a Swarm attack!"
A Dragonfly Prime dropping off its Elementals early in Operation REVIVAL
As always! Thoughts and comments are most welcome!
