'Mech of the Week: Morrigan
Today's 'Mech of the Week comes from TRO 3085. It continues a rebuilding trend started by Clan Nova Cat, but it also continues the work of integrating 'Mechs that initially appeared in the 'MechWarrior: Dark Age game and it's expansion sets. Today's 'Mech of the Week is the Morrigan. (And if you haven't seen it, I think the art in TRO 3085 is pretty cool for this 'Mech).
With limited supplies and limited production facilities, Clan Nova Cat designed the Arbalest as a cheap, easy to build light 'Mech that could fill in gaps in its second-line forces and giving them some limited material for trading. While it was quick and easy to build, the Nova Cats needed another light 'Mech with more punch. At the same time, the Draconis Combine was looking for some way to gain access to more Clan technology, and the Combine was willing to assist in design and production in exchange for some production runs.
With supplies of raw materials coming in from Combine sources, the Nova Cats went all out on the Morrigan. It uses an XL engine to move the 35 tonner at a 8/12 speed and save tonnage. An endo steel chassis and ferro-fibrous armor add to the weight savings. The designers took care when designing the armor layout, even though it only has 88% coverage it has an almost perfect layout for the amount of armor it has. The torso carries a 10/15/10 pattern across the front and a 5/7/5 pattern across the rear. Each arm carries 8 points and each leg carries 14 points of armor. My only wish would be to move 1 point from each arm to each leg, or add more armor in general.
With good speed and a relatively good armor shell, it all comes down to the weapons, and the designers did a pretty good job, giving the 'Mech a variety of options even though it's not an Omni. Each torso location carries an ATM3, with 3 tons total of ammunition, not that scary on their own, they can work well as long-range harassers or as short range crit-seekers. But the fun doesn't stop there, in the right arm is a Heavy Large Laser, tied into a targeting computer in the right torso. The left torso carries an Active Probe, allowing this 'Mech to use it's speed in a scouting role as well. With only 10 double heat sinks, alpha striking will soon take you into your own sauna, but if you stick to firing the Heavy Large Laser OR the ATMs you should be fine.
My rating: 8/10, a good versatile scout 'Mech, great in a duelist role, as a scout, or a light or medium 'Mech hunter.
How I would improve it:Dropping the Active Probe, or a ton of ATM ammo would let you add another heat sink, allowing you to fire all of your weapons more often. Or dropping both would let you add a fourth ATM rack and some armor/Light Active Probe/any other 0.5 ton weapon/equipment.
How I would use it/fight it:If I was given one, I would use the speed and ATMs to fire while closing to short range to bring the Heavy Large Laser into play. With such a large weapon it can be a threat to any 'Mech on the field, but it's speed should help it avoid a lot of enemy fire. Whenever possible, I would move it to generate the maximum defensive movement modifier, saving the armor as much as possible.
With all that speed, staying out of range of the Heavy Large Laser would be tough, but pulse lasers would make closing range more bearable, hopefully I could land some shots to slow it down.
VariantsThe first variant is the
Morrigan 2. With limited access to supplies of Clan-made ammo, the Combine wanted a version that dropped the missile racks in favor an all energy variant. An ER Medium Laser, a pair of ER Small Lasers, and a Small Pulse Laser in each side torso replace the missiles and their ammo. This caused the targeting computer to increase in tonnage, necessitating the removal of the Active Probe. Fortunately one extra double heat sink was added in the engine and a half ton of armor was added, mostly to the arms.
Overall it's better in longer campaigns where ammo supplies are limited, but it's lost a lot of range on it's firepower.
My rating: 6/10, it's still good, but not quite as versatile, though with the Small Pulse Lasers it can tear through enemy infantry formations.
EDIT: In hindsight, I'd bump this up to a 7/10, almost as good as the original, but in different ways, the only drawback is the lack of long range weaponsHow I would improve it:You know, I'm not quite sure how to improve this one other than juggling the lasers and heat sinks.
How I would use it/fight it:It's still got the speed and the big short ranged headchopper, so it still needs to get in close, but this time it can't provide it's own long range cover fire, so it needs to skirt the battlefield or use terrain for cover more effectively.
This time I would focus more on trying to bring it down before it closes range, or focus on overheating it with plasma weapons and inferno ammo.
The second variant is the
Morrigan 3. It takes the Morrigan 2 and trade the targeting computer and Heavy Large Laser for an Inner Sphere BattleMech Taser and 2 tons of ammo. Intended for Combine Special Operations forces, this could be used for capturing enemy 'Mechs more easily or attempting to capture enemy leaders.
Overall it's an oddity. In theory or fluff the Taser could be useful, but based on the table-top rules targeting an enemy 'Mech you need to hit an 11 or 12 to shut down the targeted unit for 3 turns.
My rating: 4/10, a great variant for RPG play or with house rules, but not so good for stock rules.
How I would improve it:If you want to keep the Taser, I would trade off the ER Small Lasers for more ER Medium Lasers to give it more of a punch while attempting to get in position to use the Taser, otherwise, just go back to the Morrigan 2.
How I would use it/fight it:Honestly, I would probably not bring this variant without using special house rules. But if I had to, get in close and stay there, hopefully you can shut down an enemy and then use the backup lasers to disable the enemy.
Fighting against it, don't worry about the Taser too much, focus more on taking the 'Mech out of play.
NEW MODELS: COMING SOON TO A BATTLEFIELD NEAR YOU!With the standardization of new weapons, trusty, well used Morrigans were upgraded for the ever changing battlefield. Two new variants, the Morrigan 4 and 5, have joined the fray. While not stated in TRO3145's NTNU, it appears these two variants are either weapon swaps of the 2 and 3 variants, or new production using the 2 and 3 variants as a starting point.
Both the 4 and 5 keep the same increased armor of the 2 and 3 variants and the general weapons layout of all the previous Morrigans. The Morrigan 4 is a tactical successor to the Morrigan 3, trading the 'Mech Taser for a TSEMP Cannon and trading the varied laser battery for a quintet of ER Small Lasers in each side torso. Two more double heat sinks were added to bring the total up to twelve. This doesn't allow for carefree alpha strikes, but managing the heat scale is easy enough a cadet can do it.
While still fairly short-ranged, the addition of the TSEMP Cannon increases the usefulness of the Morrigan 4, while making it a much bigger target. The typical light 'Mech strategies of keeping up your defensive modifier and limiting incoming fire still apply here, but the 4 variant can also be used as a threat, to attempt to herd the enemy's movement and distract the enemy's forces.
The Morrigan 5 goes back to the deign philosophy of the original, multiple lightweight missile racks with a targeting computer-assisted headcapper. This version is an improvement over the original, opting for a pair of Streak LRM 5 racks and an ERPPC. Some people might complain this is too good, too obvious, or too boring of an upgrade, but it works. It may not have as many clusters of missiles or as much damage potential at medium and short ranges, but the Streak technology makes sure every missile hits (short of an AMS interfering). The base ten double heat sinks mean you might occasionally have to use the heat scale, but outside of engine damage or external heat sources, the heat scale is just decoration on your recordsheet. I can think of a player in our local group who would absolutely love this 'Mech, running around a longer ranges, firing from where his opponent needs 11's or 12's to hit him.
