Author Topic: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor  (Read 16270 times)

sillybrit

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Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« on: 30 August 2012, 19:39:55 »
Hauberk Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3075 page 37



     The Hauberk was something of a game changer when it first appeared; a Battle Armor design which presented a significant long range threat, able to reach out twenty one hexes and deliver a friendly little hello to its foes. Originally appearing in MechWarrior Dark Age - for which it shall be forgiven due to its sheer excellence - it has become a linchpin of the AFFS' impressive and diverse Battle Armor corps.

     First seen in real BattleTech in Record Sheets MechWarrior Dark Age, the Hauberk is another of those suits that tends to make the discerning Battle Armor player squeal with delight, utter something un-utterable or cackle maniacally, depending upon their temperament and faction. Inspired by and developed from Clan Goliath Scorpion's Undine, the Hauberk takes the Clan suit's one-shot LRM5 to its logical conclusion, by mounting it on the biggest chassis possible so that as many reloads as possible can be added. This one change, as simple as it might sound, is what makes the Hauberk so dangerous; a single LRM salvo is little more than a nasty surprise, but when it's followed by another, and another and yet more, that's when even the largest 'Mechs and tanks have to take notice.

     The history of the Hauberk is somewhat convoluted, beginning in the Clan Homeworlds. In 3068 the Diamond Sharks surprised the other Clans by challenging the Scorpions for the Undine design, the first and only Clan to express an interest in the specialist design. After a number of Trials, the Sharks finally succeeded and then proceeded to apparently ignore the design, with no examples seen operating in the Touman at the time, leaving many wondering just why they bothered. The Federated Suns at least knew the answer, having offered to trade for copies of the Undine, in the hope of fielding it for themselves, although that proved to be impractical. It's open to question whether the Sharks acquired the Undine in the hope of finding a buyer or whether they did so after receiving the Suns' request, but if the canny Clan traders had thought that they were getting the better half of the deal, they didn't take into account the capabilities of NAIS.

     jymset: Unlike sillybrit, I think it's very clear what the Sharks were thinking, and that they definitely made a great sale. My favourite fluff regarding the Hauberk is actually in 3058U's Undine write-up, p. 48: Despite having a water totem, "many were surprised when Clan Diamond Shark aggressively pursued the acquisition of the Undine in 3068. [...] To date, the Diamond Sharks have not fielded the Undine at any of their holdings, leading some among the Clans to wonder why they went through so much trouble to acquire the armor to begin with." Everything the Sharks do has a single target: the bottom line. Clearly they were keenly aware of the Undine's value as a technological trade item. The second paragraph in the Hauberk's write-up, TRO 3075, p. 36, makes it clear the Undine was delivered to order.

     Not only did the Sharks receive "significant concessions", they also had their watershed precedent of fulfilling an order, with a non-border state, none the less. A year before the Homeworld situation reached FUBAR point, too. As can be read in Experimental Technical Readout Davion, the Sharks also found themselves a very willing customer, one who was happy to come back again and again. Beyond the Suns, Technical Readout 3085 tells the full story of the Clan's astounding commercial success in the following years.

     Now that we've had that digression, we wanted to read how the Sharks gave the Davions the means to a fearful armor...


     After examining the Undine suits that had been traded by the Sharks, the scientists and engineers at NAIS realized that the basic design could be adapted to develop a whole new Battle Armor concept. Bulked up to an Assault chassis and adding stealthy armor plating, something not favored among the Clans, while stripping out the Underwater Maneuvering Unit and exchanging the Clantech laser for a less advanced model, NAIS came up with the Hauberk in just six months. Thanks to the inconvenience of an ongoing Blakist invasion on New Avalon, building of the prototypes and finishing off the development project was done by GM of Salem, with the first production suits ready by 3070, making the Hauberk one of the fastest developed Battle Armor suits.

     The heart of the Hauberk is its backpack-mounted LRM5 launcher supplied by half a dozen salvos, which makes a four-suit squad the equivalent of an LRM20 with a ton of ammo. While some players might prefer fewer tubes and more ammo, the number of shots already available provides a reasonable endurance, giving players the freedom to take marginal shots that they might otherwise skip. Unlike the Clantech Undine, the Hauberk's Inner Sphere LRMs do suffer from the six hex minimum range, that players soon learned to compensate for by deploying their Hauberk squads in loose formations rather than concentrated. By keeping squads five or more hexes apart, that allows them to cover each other when an enemy attempts to close the range to exploit the LRM's poor accuracy over short distances.

     A note should be made about the type of munitions the Hauberk can load up for its LRMs. Under Total War rules the only allowed warhead types are the regular missiles and torpedoes, with the latter not really much use to the Hauberk. Clan LRMs can also be the multipurpose type, which can be used as both missiles and torpedoes, while SRMs from both tech bases can also be loaded with Inferno warheads, but that's it. Many players do allow Battle Armor to use the wide variety of other warheads, such as Thunder or Mine Clearance Munitions, but it's always best to check with the other players first when building a force for a scenario.

     Backing up the LRMs on the Hauberk's right arm is a standard Small Laser. At the time the Hauberk was designed, it would have been a respectable secondary weapon, but even then it was showing its age. Despite the respectable damage, the Small Laser is really a poor choice for a suit like the Hauberk, which lacks the mobility to make up for the laser's short range. A swifter opponent can easily hover at four or five hexes away, keeping out of range of the laser and forcing the Hauberk to suffer minimum range penalties on its LRMs. Something like a Light Recoilless Rifle or the Suns' signature Magshot would have been better choices, although the latter's bulk would have required some minor design changes.

     Possessing the bare minimum mobility for Battle Armor, the Hauberk was never going to survive by its ability to dodge incoming fire, so the designers made it stealthy instead. Clad in Improved Stealth composites, the Hauberk is a difficult target to hit, inflicting up to a +3 penalty at long range against non-conventional infantry attackers. When shots do get through, the armor is a reasonable eleven points, which does at least protect the suit from one-shot kills from the likes of PPCs, although it fails to match the armor belt of the Kanazuchi. Although a little light for an Assault chassis, the combination of stealthiness and the LRM battery do make up for the armor, and with a wise player deploying his or her Hauberks into cover, many opponents would be lucky to hit the Battle Armor in the first place.

     Rounding out the hardware, the Hauberk has an effectively useless Battle Claw and an equally questionable Power Pack, which is meant to extend the endurance of the suit. Only of any use in the roleplaying game, although the Power Pack hopefully might get some benefit once Interstellar Operations comes out, I tend to just look at them as cosmetic flavor, as well as a waste of 40kg and an equipment slot.

     jymset: I always err on the side of flavour, so once again I don't mind this at all. For that weight, you can't even upgrade the armour, and that underlines one thing: the Hauberk is quite the maximised design for what it does. And it even had the weight for design elegance. Sillybrit's point about the laser stands absolutely though, and by combining a swap to one of the longer ranged guns, then dropping the power pack for a 12th point of armour would have been groovy. That said, beyond actual design aesthetics, as I recall the Hauberk precedes the true proliferation of 2nd generation Battle Armor weapons ever so slightly. Record Sheets MechWarrior Dark Age was released before Combat Equipment (even though the writer - MacAttack - was the same for the RS' Hauberk, much of CE, and the BA construction rules in the CBT Companion). So there's that to bear in mind.

      But the funny by-effect is that I have a perpetual bad conscience for not including power packs in my BA designs, especially those featuring direct fire weapons and extra ammo. The Hauberk's "cosmetic flavor" shows that great designs can both do the min/max thing, yet also ooze style.


     Using Hauberks is fairly simple, without much need for finesse: find some cover with a decent field of fire, preferably in decent supporting range of similar covering terrain and then just camp. You're not going to get much benefit for moving, except to shuffle ponderously into range of a target that's tantalizingly a little beyond your reach. Ideally, in defensive battles try to set up the suits in concealed positions if using the Hidden Unit rules, giving them a little extra protection until they start to let rip with the LRMs. On the attack, you'll have to use APCs to bring them to the battlefield - there's no Mechanized Battle Armor capability for these big fellas - and given their fire support role you should find it easy to deploy them in safety, well away from enemy fire.

     Given that the Grenadier has got its torso-mounted Modular Weapon Mount back, it's not unreasonable to ask just why the Suns would have bothered developing the Hauberk instead of just introducing an LRM pack as an alternative configuration. Although the Grenadier has the payload capacity, it doesn't have the slots to mount as many tubes and reloads, which would be much less effective, so it's understandable that the AFFS felt the need to optimize the concept, even if that meant a whole new suit. The Grenadier does make for an excellent guardian for the Hauberk, with the threat of its heavy SRM battery able to deter some enemies from attempting to close inside the LRM's minimum range. Similarly, the Infiltrator Mk II makes for another good partner, this time as a mobile spotter to search out the targets for the Hauberk's missile salvos, giving the AFFS a superb trio of stealthy Battle Armor that together form a formidable force.

     jymset: I held my breath during sillybrit's "linchpin" introduction, and good thing too. He's absolutely right about everything, up there in the opening paragraph, and down here. While he laid it down objectively, what about the gut test: how impressive would the Hauberk be without the Grenadier? And vice versa. The two designs are complemental, each one offering what the other lacks. Toughness and reach in the case of the Hauberk, (relative) quickness and flexibility in the Grenadier. The mutual existence turns them from good designs into monsters, fully justifying the expense and effort spent by the AFFS in fielding their family of Battle Armor.

     Not unexpectedly, General Motors didn't just blindly churn out the Hauberk design that they'd inherited from the now lost NAIS. Reacting to the need for superior close quarters firepower to improve the suit's capabilities in urban combat without just reinventing the Grenadier, GM's engineers came up with the all-gun Hauberk II in 3072. Swapping the LRM5 for a pair of Magshots, the new variant has solid direct fire capability out to nine hexes, without any ammo limits in the BattleTech tactical game. With the weight saved, the Small Laser has been upgraded to the pulse version, enhancing accuracy and anti-infantry firepower, which isn't the best use of the mass available, and is even less so now that Detachable Weapon Pack technology is available.

     The Hauberk II makes for a viable alternative to fill the role of the Grenadier as a close quarters combatant. The two suits each have their advantages, with the Grenadier having greater weapon flexibility and speed against the Hauberk II's superior stealth and armor protection, so it's really a matter of personal preference as to which one you chose. The Hauberk II's twin Magshots make it a good anti-armor vehicle, with a decent chance of achieving a crit due to the multiple hits inflicted per Turn, plus the freedom to shoot without ammo worries. The Small Pulse Laser is typically less used due to its range, unless the Hauberk II is lucky enough to get the drop on the enemy, or the foe is willing to close the range. With all guns hitting, on average a Hauberk II squad is just to going to exceed the all-important twenty points of damage to force a 'Mech to make a Piloting roll, but more typically it's just going to be those pair of Magshots, with the resulting damage falling short even if the rolls on the Cluster Hit Table give a perfect result.

     jymset: When a Small Pulse Laser on a Battle Armor suit is its liability, you know you're onto something. This is easily one of my favourite Inner Sphere Battle Armor designs this side of the Nephilim. I could happily sit here for 15 minutes and type out onomatopeia for "drool", but shan't for the sake of mutual sanity. Sillybrit's got it covered and you be the judge yourself. That said, here is the trump card: BV 63. Nuff said, I continue to be in love forever.

     Experimental Technical Readout Davion gave us the Hauberk U15, a Mixed Tech variant that eventually leads to the Commando variant, although unfortunately the U15 is illegal due to incorrect rounding of the installed Detachable Weapon Packs. First built in 3076 by Tech Sergeant Tim Balke from a mixture of broken Hauberks, Clantech weaponry and salvaged Word hardware, only four Hauberk U15s exist, being more of a hobby project than a true prototype program. Starting by switching the Improved Stealth armor for the same thickness of Mimetic armor taken from Purifiers and Nephilims, this gives the Hauberk U15 a much superior stealth capability than the original Hauberk, being independent of range and also effecting conventional infantry. Planning to install Detachable Weapon Packs, Balke upgraded the suit's motive systems to double the speed and also saved weight by stripping out all extraneous equipment, namely the Power Pack and Battle Claw.

     Balke added a Clan ECM suite, that when used in Ghost Target mode can help make the suit impossible to hit at any range, although the Tech Sergeant probably intended it for jamming Blakist C3I networks or helping the suit to hide when laying in ambush - although most foes who detect a one-hex ECM field are going to realize that there's Battle Armor hiding there. A trio of Clan weapons also found their way into the homebrewed design, with an SRM2 loaded with 4 shots per tube and a pair of lasers, both installed on Detachable Weapon Packs. On the right arm, the Hauberk U15 mounts a Micro Pulse Laser, matching the capability of the Hauberk II's Small Pulse Laser at less than half the mass, while on the left arm the suit was fitted with an ER Small Laser, giving it the punch of a Medium Laser, albeit at two-thirds the range. Rounding out the armament with a third Detachable Weapon Pack, a Magshot provides the only Inner Sphere contribution to the firepower, giving the suit a sustained fire capability to back up the SRMs at longer ranges.

     A superb camper, the Hauberk U15's armament does make it somewhat the jack of all trades. When all the guns can be brought to bear, there's enough firepower to allow a squad to wipe out two platoons of Jump Infantry. Against armor, the multitude of hits increases the odds of an all-important crit, and against 'Mechs the Hauberk U15 can easily inflict over twenty points of damage, thus forcing a Piloting check. With the added flexibility offered by the possibility of using Infernos instead of standard SRMs, the U15 is a surprisingly viable combatant despite the eclectic nature of its armament.

     jymset: This suit is also a proof of concept of what to do with Detachable Weapon Packs. It illustrates how a single DWP is often not worth it, because the extra mass spent on motive gear to compensate for the speed loss is often higher than the DWP gain. The first DWP thus actually costs a lot of weight, but any beyond it are free gain. But for designs such as the U15, there is another huge bonus: slots. The DWP reduces the slots of any weapon to 1. This is why the otherwise lightweight MagShot benefits so very much from being DWP-mounted. Remembering what I said about mimetic slots on the Nephilim, this suit is clearly tailor-made. It uses all of its 14 slots, and mounts a hodge-podge of weaponry that gain very different things from DWP but share one important factor: they are good.

     Introduced in 3088, the Hauberk Commando was based upon the U15s built by Tech Sergeant Balke, although without the Clan technology that made that variant difficult if not impossible to mass produce. The overall format remained unchanged, with one detachable laser on each arm, a shoulder-mounted detachable Magshot, and a missile launcher. Unable to match the performance of the Micro laser with Inner Sphere technology, the designers instead added a second ER Small Laser on the right arm, increasing range at the cost of accuracy and anti-infantry firepower. Less capable than the Clantech version, the twin ER Small Lasers provide a three point punch out to five hexes; this sounds decent until you recall that a Medium Recoilless Rifle does better for less mass. The SRM launcher also suffered due to the increased mass of the Inner Sphere weaponry, being downgraded into a one-shot version, which massively lowers its utility.

     Less capable than the U15 overall, the Hauberk Commando is still a solid Assault suit, just not quite as groundbreaking as the original Hauberk. The Magshot allows it to at least plink away at an opponent that's attempting to whittle down the Commando while remaining out of range of the lasers, while the Mimetic armor make it difficult or even impossible for direct fire to harm the suit from beyond the reach of the Magshot. Lacking speed, the Commando works best as a defensive unit, although slow steady assaults are also possible, preferably when backed up by more mobile supporting forces.

     jymset: I was going to add a "very yes" to sillybrit's "lackluster but still good" appraisal of the Commando, but realised he'd said it all. However, I then remembered a very important footnote: BV 74. Yet it's a suit that's very high quality and I'd always pay the price to use it. It simply again illustrates just how durned good the Hauberk II is for what it costs.

     Now a key component of the AFFS Battle Armor corps, the Hauberk has come a long way from a suit that started off as a sucker trade from the Diamond Sharks. Whether the original variant or the close combat versions introduced as the fighting of the Jihad grew more brutal, through to the Commando, which is at least a step in the right direction for the slow speed Assault format, the Hauberk remains a powerful signature design for the Suns.

Next up:
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« Last Edit: 30 August 2012, 22:28:28 by sillybrit »

Scotty

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #1 on: 30 August 2012, 20:07:25 »
The more of these that come out, the more surprised I am how many different kinds of battle armor there are.  I mean, jeez.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #2 on: 30 August 2012, 21:55:35 »
Well, GM wasn't the originator of the Grenadier or Hauberk. Both were interlectual flights of fancy that ended up on GM's roster. Yay for them.

Back when both of these suits were released there was some anti-Fed Suns grumbling. The Suns got two assault suits, and the only suits combining good long range weapons and stealth armours. This at a time when the Magshot was king. Compare with the Phalanx or Golem to see what other nations were getting.

Honestly the Hauberk annoys me a lot for it's min maxed nature, lacking an obvious flaw like the Grenadier's 9 points of armour. It was a major reason for me championing the extension of smoke rounds for grenade launchers from the RPG to BT, with the ultimate spread to Mortars as well. Nothing ruins a sniper's day like a moving wall of smoke.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #3 on: 31 August 2012, 00:24:03 »
the armor's design makes me feel nauseous. not like it's bad or anything, but....man i feel sorry for the guys that have to wear that for hours in a combat zone doing a constant crunch like that.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #4 on: 31 August 2012, 06:31:27 »
the armor's design makes me feel nauseous. not like it's bad or anything, but....man i feel sorry for the guys that have to wear that for hours in a combat zone doing a constant crunch like that.
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But despite needing a change of underwear it is still a scary suit.

As a FedSun player I very much like the Hauberk, I like it for it's simplicity of being built around one massive weapon and making it work, rather than some eclectic mix of weaponry. Sure it is a bit min/max, but as the article notes, it can still be improved upon, and the 1 hex movement speed and thus utter reliance on APCs for map movement are a major weakness that can be exploited by a smart opponent.

Another thing the Hauberk and it's brother the Grenadier highlight is that when it comes to BA, the AFFS seems to have a force mix that works well with their combined operations style of combat.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #5 on: 31 August 2012, 07:12:09 »
The trick to the Hauberk (in its original format) is finding cheap ways to make it mobile. A combat team consisting of the Badger, a squad of medium armor of some variety, and the Hauberk squad is a way that's worked for me. Alternatively, the cheapest VTOL with four tons of space can work, too. It's hard for an enemy to take advantage of the Hauberk's low speed when it has mutually supporting resources (like Grenadiers, medium armors, other squads of Hauberks or vehicles like the Badger) protecting it.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #6 on: 31 August 2012, 10:39:07 »
Hauberks are awesome and invisible ones are downright scary!!!!  :o

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #7 on: 31 August 2012, 14:35:15 »
I like the design, its nice fire support unit.  With Post-Jihad era here, alot of large infantry bays now available on transports, making it possible to really move these big assault units into place where they can make oncoming 'Mech or armor unit pay little bit before they get up close.

Funny thing, when i tabbled in the MWDA game, i remember seeing a Hauberk suit miniatures that were standing upright instead of bent over.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #8 on: 31 August 2012, 14:53:41 »
I saw the sheet for hauberks and fell in love! Essentially 8 tons for an additional LRM 20 without having it attached to a pesky mech, lol. The stealth armor was just icing on the cake. :)

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #9 on: 31 August 2012, 17:17:50 »
Indeed, my preferred role for them is fire support for infantry units.  They've got range and IDF capability as well as being able to keep up with foot infantry.  A squad of them placed right make wonderful on-call fire support for dispersed infantry units.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #10 on: 31 August 2012, 18:15:41 »
How does this suit compare to the Sprite Protomech from WoR?

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #11 on: 31 August 2012, 19:01:57 »
About how you'd expect 8 tons (a squad of Hauberks) to compare to 15 tons (a single Sprite ProtoMech).

In LRM terms they can be viewed as identical, but the Sprite is faster, jump capable, has double the ammo, its LRMs have no minimum range, and it's more heavily armored in total, although depending upon hit distribution, a Sprite could go down before a squad of Hauberks is completely destroyed. The Hauberks do have the Small Laser, for what it's worth, and get the stealth advantage plus the extra +1 modifier when being attacked by non-conventional infantry foes. Most importantly, the Sprite will be operating in a "squad" of its own, given that they are fielded in Points that are used treated a single playing piece, so the Sprite comes out the clear winner, as mirrored by the BV.

Taurevanime

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #12 on: 02 September 2012, 13:14:29 »
I still haven't unpacked my books like some fool, but how fast can BA rearm? Six shots is a lot for BA, but not all that much for an LRM because of it's tremendous range. So I am wondering how dangerous these things can be in a defensive position sitting atop a few tons of ammo.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #13 on: 03 September 2012, 00:44:16 »
For what you're after, you'd use the Rearming Under Fire rules from TacOps p213. Battle Armor squads are completely reloaded, no matter how many launchers and salvos/launcher, after three Turns of reloading, but you do have to roll a 2d6 safety check, with an explosion occuring on a 11+. The rules don't clearly cover the effects of the explosion on Battle Armor, since they can't normally suffer ammo explosion crits. While reloading, the Battle Armor would also be counted as immobile, making them vulnerable to enemy fire.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #14 on: 03 September 2012, 17:52:52 »
This one's a sweet suit. Tough, long ranged, with a decent punch.
Now just imagine if it was a Quad!  ;) :D
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #15 on: 03 September 2012, 19:37:49 »
This one's a sweet suit. Tough, long ranged, with a decent punch.
Now just imagine if it was a Quad!  ;) :D
Not much, it would only gain one more point of movement bringing it up to a grand total of TWO, not really that useful, nice in urban or if no transport is around but not that useful, that's IF the quad has enough space slots for everything

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #16 on: 03 September 2012, 23:54:52 »
It wouldn't have enough slots as a quad, so you'd have to fit a turret, with the resulting additional mass thus requiring a reduction in armor and/or equipment.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #17 on: 04 September 2012, 02:23:43 »
I think that if you want quad suits you have to go to a smaller chassis size to really get a benefit out of that suit type's increased ground speed. The Rottweiler is in my oppinion the best quad suit because it reaches speeds that bipedal suits can't reach. A speed that very neatly slots in with the Lyran penchant for heavy assault 'Mechs that move 3/5.

Sillybrit when you are doing doing articles on all the individual suits, will you perhaps do an article looking at the mix of suits each nation has at their disposal and how they stack up together or within their force? As you mentioned in this article, The Hauberk really works well together with the Grenadier, both AFFS suits.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #18 on: 04 September 2012, 04:41:29 »
Yeah, BA force overviews in style to Trace_Coburn's old and excellent fighter force overviews would be great.

It'd probably have to have a section on the BA support options in mobility and transportation assets as well, tactical and interstellar shipping.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #19 on: 04 September 2012, 10:25:33 »
For what you're after, you'd use the Rearming Under Fire rules from TacOps p213. Battle Armor squads are completely reloaded, no matter how many launchers and salvos/launcher, after three Turns of reloading, but you do have to roll a 2d6 safety check, with an explosion occuring on a 11+. The rules don't clearly cover the effects of the explosion on Battle Armor, since they can't normally suffer ammo explosion crits. While reloading, the Battle Armor would also be counted as immobile, making them vulnerable to enemy fire.

And how fast/safe to replace a detachable missile pack with a loaded one?

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #20 on: 04 September 2012, 11:10:45 »
After a little experimentation, it looks like you need to take the shots down to 4 to fit it in a turret.  But that gives you the weight to add some armor.  But I'm no BA construction expert, and may have done it wrong.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #21 on: 04 September 2012, 11:26:35 »
@Taurevanime: it's a possibility, jymset and I have already discussed a couple of other article ideas to be included during/after the design articles.

@Nikas: the same 3 Turns and same safety; there's no distinction in the rearming rules for detachable packs of any kind.

@Arkansas: There wouldn't be enough weight to add armor. A 5-slot turret would weigh 80kg, while the reduced magazine size would only add 83kg, plus the 15 kg for now superfluous Battle Claw, meaning you'd only have 18kg spare.

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #22 on: 04 September 2012, 11:35:22 »
I ran out of slots and had to remove everything that wasn't the LRM.  That frees up plenty of weight.  But again, I may have done it wrong, I'm just fiddling with HM:BA and trusting what it gives me.
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #23 on: 04 September 2012, 20:07:03 »
@Nikas: the same 3 Turns and same safety; there's no distinction in the rearming rules for detachable packs of any kind.
Not while under fire anyways. If you're rearming the safe way, you can replace a detachable pack twice as quickly as a fixed mount - StratOps p186

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #24 on: 04 September 2012, 20:25:52 »
Not while under fire anyways. If you're rearming the safe way, you can replace a detachable pack twice as quickly as a fixed mount - StratOps p186
The ridiculously large chance of ammo explosion from rearming under fire rules is such that I use Rearming in the Field rules unless a unit is actually taking weapons fire while they reload. 
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #25 on: 04 September 2012, 23:51:05 »
I ran out of slots and had to remove everything that wasn't the LRM.  That frees up plenty of weight.  But again, I may have done it wrong, I'm just fiddling with HM:BA and trusting what it gives me.

HM:BA is now very wrong as far as quads are concerned due to the change how turrets are handled. HM:BA treats turret slots as counting against the total slots in the body, so an Assault quad that adds a 6-slot non-configurable turret would have only 4 slots remaining (11 slots - 6 slot turret capacity - 1 slot turret mechanism = 4 slots). Under the latest Tech Manual rules only the turret mechanism counts against the body capacity, with the turret capacity slots being extras, so in that case the Assault quad would have 16 slots free (11 slots + 6 slot turret capacity - 1 slot turret mechanism = 16 slots, split into 10-slot and 6-slot locations).


Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #26 on: 05 September 2012, 10:05:32 »
I see.  Is there a more up to date program for designing BA?
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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #27 on: 05 September 2012, 10:30:11 »
The spreadsheet found here does a pretty fine job and is to date with the latest TacOps errata. Doesn't do mixed tech as far as I've found but very handy none the less.

sillybrit

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #28 on: 05 September 2012, 10:33:11 »
You can use some rather clumsy workarounds with HMBA, such as custom armor & equipment using fewer slots to help pack everything in, & then track the real slot requirements manually. With some designs that still won't work, but for many it will.

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Re: Battle Armor of the Week - Hauberk Battle Armor
« Reply #29 on: 07 September 2012, 05:58:28 »
Hey, hey, I didn't expect that.  :))
I normally advocate for Quad BA for the main reason that most heavy biped designs, and the Achileus, must be controlled from an inside position just as well, as they are built in a way that no living person, short of specifically 'designed' MD, could possibly pilot it the classical way. Quads just strike me as more stable, they make more sense, so to say, and obviously there's a mobility advantage.

But in case of the Hauberk, it actually works out, it's got style, it's got fluff, it's pretty optimized when it comes to slots, and the artwork most importantly looks like an actual person wearing a suit.
In this case, I wasn't serious over the Quad thing, other than with the Nephilim, a superb design that would actually have the excuse of specifically designed troopers.
In retrospect, I might have just been trolling of sorts.  ::)

Quads are always a good choice as soon as the extra mobility saves more weight by means of mounting all direct fire weapons in DWPs than the mostly mandatory turret costs in turn.
As for the spreadsheet, it works rather well, it just obviously doesn't print the result out in forum-compliant txts. You can modify it with a bit of practice, I for example added a row for mixed tech equipment and a field to freely modify squad sizes. :)
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