MLN-XX – MerlinThe Succession Wars were arguably the most destructive conflicts ever seen by humanity as a species, and by the time the Third Succession War rumbled around Humanity was in truth, in decline. The First and Second Succession Wars had blasted a great deal of the Inner Sphere’s advanced technology into smoking embers and burning rubble, which the Third Succession War then proceeded to stomp all over just to add to the mess.
Long gone was the capability to produce things like Endo-Steel or Ferro-fibrous materials, pulse lasers were limited to small arms and even they were rare. And then things get worse due to the Telephone Company getting it in their head that they wanted to rule everyone, who do they think they are, Google?
Operation Holy Shroud was devastating in its own far more surgical way. Whilst factories could be rebuilt if people knew how to, Holy Shroud ensured that the brains behind such projects were ‘removed’ from the board, and this just accelerated the brain drain across the Inner Sphere.
What Mech and Aerospace factories that remained continued to churn out more and more basic versions of Mechs and there was nothing new produced as there simply wasn’t the know how to do so.
Then along came a wizard.
DesignIn truth, there’s nothing spectacular about the Merlin, the TLDR is that it’s basically a heavier Vindicator with superior firepower, but it’s what the Mech represented that makes it important.
With factories in ruins, the lack of technical knowhow to produce anything new it seemed the Inner Sphere could go nowhere but backwards. Many worlds had regressed from their near Post-Scarcity society into a 20th Century one or even worse as technology regressed across the Inner Sphere.
And into this feeling of depression and decay the first new Mech to be designed in over 100 years stepped out of its small factory and prove that perhaps the decay could well be stopped.
Oddly enough the Mech didn’t walk out of the gates of Hesperus or any of the big factory worlds that still stood, but out of a small factory owned by Mountain Wolf Inc in the Outworlds Alliance.
I’m quite surprised that Comstar didn’t throw a binaric hissy-fit and try to have the factory and everyone in a 40 mile radius have a thermonuclear ‘accident’ but regardless of this the Merlin started to enter production.
At 60 tons the Merlin is an exceptionally basic machine by modern standards. With its standard engine, skeleton and armour there’s no real surprises and the weapons are ones that would be commonly available at the time.
But they appear to be a real hodgepodge of parts from different regions and powers. The main armament, a Magna Hellstar PPC is a FWL/Taurian designed weapon, the two Medium lasers are of Canopian design, the LRM-5 is a Davion design as is the Machine-gun whilst the Flamer’s of Lyran design but built locally in the Alliance.
With a top speed of 64kph the Merlin does not break any speed records but it also has a full rack of jump jets that allow for 120 meter leaps giving the Mech a surprising amount of tactical flexibility in line with the heavier and more famous Grasshopper.
Eighteen heatsinks also keep the Merlin cool when firing its main armament and you only start having heat issues if you do a full alpha and jump but then when you’re firing both the flamer AND the LRM at something, then you’re probably in more trouble than having to glance at the heat scale.
The design does not scrimp on protection either with 10.5 tons of plate giving it the following layout
9/18/26/18 (8/11/8)
16/16/19/19
Which is enough to stand up to most firepower it would encounter at the time. So, the end result is a tough, well-armed and versatile machine, it’s not spectacular, but it more than does the job. For a long time the Merlin was also the largest Mech in the Outworlds military this only changed in later years as the Mech grew increasingly obsolete.
One thing of note is the Mech's quirks, which are listed as Easy to maintain and Rugged so this, to me says this thing is a joy to work on. Because of its simple equipment and no doubt easily available parts, the Merlin does not need anywhere near the hangar time between refits and servicing and if something is broke, its easy to repair or replace, making this ideal for Periphery powers or a Mercenary unit running a tight budget.
VariantsMLN-1A – The grand-daddy and one that set lips a flapping when it stepped out of its factory in the Outworlds Alliance the 1A is simple, tough and rugged. The armament is centred around a torso mounted PPC which delivers the vast majority of its punch whilst extra ranged firepower comes in the form of a LRM-5 sitting in the other side of the chest. At mid-range a pair of Medium Lasers provide more than enough firepower whilst a flamer and machine gun (with half a ton of ammo) can make life very short and painful for infantry. Still produced today in the Federated Suns (at a factory that use to make Mining Mech’s) the 1A is capable for the period its in and would give a good account of itself against any Succession Wars era opponent.
The jump jets are a nice touch and give you more tactical options and the Mech runs cool unless you go nuts. In short, its simple but easy to use.
MLN-2A – An exceptionally simple refit, all it does is remove the 1A’s machinegun and ammo and replace it with another heatsink to make the Mech run even cooler.
MLN-3A – As the Outworlds Alliance and Clan Snow Raven started working together the Outworlds Alliance received a glut of technology and its lasers made on the world of Lushaan became famous for being excellent examples of their kind. With this new technology, the Lushaan folks developed a home-grown ER Medium laser that was a smash hit for the company. The 3A took advantage of this by simply swapping out its medium lasers for the new Lushaan made ER Mediums. This does mean that the 3A’s not quite so efficient a fighter due to its higher heat curve but the increased range makes the Mech a capable and dirt cheap garrison unit, and being a variant of the 2A its still got 19 heatsinks so the heat issues are not TOO bad really.
MLN-1B ‘Porter’ – After salvaging a Merlin that was used in a pirate raid on the world of Armington, Porter Romero repaired and refurbished the 60-ton war-machine, although it was in a sorry state. Both the PPC and LRM had been destroyed in the battle but he was able to replace these with a large laser and SRM-4 from a wrecked Bulldog tank, some more armour was added to the Mech, evenly spread across its chassis to make it more sturdy. The result in a Mech with a greater close range punch at the cost of long range firepower. Arguably though the SRM-4 is a more useful weapon than the LRM-5 so it’s a good swap.
MLN-5X – Built during the Jihad seemingly as a pet project the 5X is an oddball design that combines then bleeding edge technology with a near primitive chassis. Designed by Major (retd) Caleb Gruber at the Sabanillas Mining Company factory the 5X is an extensive refit carried out on three old Merlin’s that were ‘hanging around’. The Mech’s skeleton was replaced with an endo-composite one saving weight at the cost of bulk whilst the old 240 rated Pitban engine was replaced with a Light Engine of the same size, onto which he then slapped 5 tons worth of armour plating to increase the durability of the engine. Half a ton of extra armour was added just adding to the durability of the old gal.
The old pattern freezers were removed along with all the standard weapons whilst the heatsinks were replaced with 14 double strength freezers. Somehow, Gruber got his mittens on Blakist Medium VSP’s which were mounted in the arms in the place of the Medium lasers. These are cooled by the application of a modern take on the old SLDF Laser insulators, meaning a cooler running weapon at the higher risk of weapon failure. The old PPC was also stripped out and here’s where it all goes wrong. So far, you’ve got a tough as old boots heavy with a meaty punch up close.
And then he added a Bombast Laser. Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy. Oh and its got a Laser insulator too. Okay fine, you get a head-capper but at full charge its grossly inaccurate and heat intensive. *sigh* And it was going so well! I would assume that this variant didn't take off, its combination of high-tech VSPs and Endo-composite skeleton on so old a Machine speak to me more that Mr Gruber basically did a 'Pimp-my-Mech' to try and turn a grand old dame into a modern party animal.
ThoughtsThe Merlin is a simple, easy to use and genuinely solid Mech, when used in a 3025 esque setting its more than capable of standing up to anything Warhammer or Marauder shaped and runs a damn sight cooler than those standbys. Use it as a somewhat less protected but more mobile Thunderbolt and you won’t really go wrong.
Advance firing the PPC and LRM, and really fire the LRM at every chance you get, you’ve not got CASE so lessening the impact of that bomb is a good idea. But you could also load it up with thunder or Smoke ammo for tactical shenanigans.
This is the same for the 2 and 3, advance, fire PPC and missiles and add Mediums to the mix once you get close. The Porter is more close combat orientated so you get in close and hammer with lasers and SRMs and the large laser when you can.
The only odd one is the 5X, and that’s a bit of a weird one. The medium VSP’s let you make a mess of folks at short and mid-range and the armoured engine keeps you alive but its let down spectacularly by the Bombast laser. Still if you do dial up the Bombast to full power if you’ve got a good enough shot it can be worth the heat, and with its laser insulators the 5X is heat neutral before movement with a full alpha strike.
Fighting one is a case of fighting any 3025 style Mech. Find an ammo bin and watch the explosion, failing that leg or core it. The Merlin’s jack-of-all trades weapons mix means that really, no matter what range you’re at, it will be able to shoot at you and as it’s a rather well protected and heat efficient machine you probably need to counter it with another heavy as its got the firepower to pound a 3025 Medium into scrap and almost keep up with them if they start jumping away. The 5X is again just..weird to fight, although it would probably be coming at you to try improve the damage from the VSPs and Bombast's hitting chances.
The armoured engine makes it hard to put down though even if the firepower from it not overly impressive but rather irritating. Although that Bombast if it hits at full charge will be more than a tad irritating, especially if it smacks you in the face.
I'm not sure who produces the Merlin any more, I doubt the Ravens would produce it save perhaps for export, but considering this thing is so achingly basic its basically RetroTech, you could probably make this Mech in a crude facility anywhere as long as you had the plans.
As always thoughts and comments are most welcome! I put it up today as we have no idea if the site will be suffering the evils of Error 504, which will hopefully be defeated. And as its up now, i'm putting it up now.