Just as a disclaimer to everyone- I really don't care about someone getting my feelings hurt. Let me know what you think in the comments of this article, even if it's just a tirade about how good I look in those express jeans of mine. I know you've been mirin'
Nice hips, sweetie.
Hello everyone! The writer formerly-known-as-prince here, welcoming you to another protomech of the week article! Now unlike my compatriot's methods of working from the original 3060 protomechs up, I will be doing the opposite by starting at the most recent designs and working down- making some kind of wonderful double-stacked protomech article goodness.
The Greekfire really sears in the flavors.
Anyway, the protomech I have decided to writeup has quickly become one of the most difficult- the Sprite, the heaviest protomech built to date. Now this writeup wasn't hard because of it's use, but because the Sprite has undergone some of the heaviest revisions by errata and TptB. If you are not “in the know”, you can check out the thread here- I will point out all the issues in the coming paragraphs.
http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,18465.msg572389.html#msg572389 The Sprite, to anyone who has not read Wars of Reaving (and why the hell have you not?) is a Society protomech built to solve one of the biggest issues the scientist cabal had- namely, how to keep it's commanders in the fight doing what they do best for several clusters of troops that were essentially castoffs. Funny enough- as the fluff remarks- using LRMs with an exhaustible ammo supply led to commanders leaving the fight too early, which coupled with the Society's pilots having poor skills meant their warriors preformed even worse. LOOK, DIAGRAMS I TOTALLY DIDN'T STEAL
SPRITE
INTRO: ~3072
FACTIONS (3072-3075): Blood Spirits, The Society, possibly the Hell's Horses(in fluff)
FACTIONS (3085): Cloud Cobra, Stone Lion, Star Adder
WEAPONS: LRM 5 (12 shots) x4
ARMOR INTERNAL
(9) (4) Arms -> Cored: 55 pts
/ \ / \ Legs -> Cored: 67 pts
(6 / 30 \ 6) (4 / 15 \ 4) Torso -> Cored: 31 pts
| | | | | | Legs -> Destroyed: 22 pts
( 14 ) ( 8 )
The base version of the Sprite should be familir to anyone reading these article, as it is basically an upgraded Gorgon with a much heavier skin. Weighing 15 tons and moving a boosted speed of 3/5/5, the base Sprite devotes an enormous amount of weight to making it as impressively armored as possible- after 1,500 KG went into it's improved/extended jump jets, over 3 and a quarter tons of armor have been applied to it's small frame, giving a Sprite the armor protection of a succession-wars era Stinger. The Sprite has an almost insane 30 points of armor across the torso with another 15 in structure behind it, making each Sprite a nightmare to kill with how much directed firepower has to be brought against them. The rest of the chassis apes this- the head in fact can take more punishment than any 'mech short of a superheavy, with 9 armor and 4 internal structure on a unit that arguably doesn't need to be heavily armored. The Sprite does loose out on it's arms and legs- the arms have 6 armor and 4 structure, while the legs are 14 and 8 respectively. Considering how “big” of a (relative) target the Sprite is, it's not hard to see how it looses out a bit on armor protection and could benefit from just a few more points to pass thresholds.
The armrament of the base Sprite is darn powerful for it's size- four LRM 5s, one in each arm and torso make each Sprite a nice walking LRM battery in themselves, and their 12 round magazine for each means hail-mary shots aren't completely out of consideration. This firepower on such a small unit is impressive, but misleading- if you were to pick one Sprite instead of two Gorgons, you would find your firepower is far more spread out (though some would say this is an advantage) and limited by firing arcs. Remember, the Gorgon's LRM 10 is in it's main gun which is considered to have a 360-degree arc, while the Sprite has half it's launchers in the torso. This can also be excacerbated by the Sprite's size- like the Gorgon, it's only considered 1 level tall, which can make returning fire an interesting proposition.
What makes a Sprite more attractive than a Gorgon? Well, with a BV of 589, two Gorgons litterally cost 1 more whole point more before pilots, so a Sprite user could easily use the unspent pilot BV for an upgrade. Better yet, you get nearly double the armor and internal structure with an arguably better movement of 3/5/5! So while some might not want to loose the main gun and get that splattered LRM fire, a jump equal to the Roc with 3 times the armor might make you wanna reconsider.
Note that the fluff questions the Hell's Horses possible capture of the design to make the Svartalfa, but also the RAT placement- 3072 has the base Sprite in the Blood Spirit's lineup on the 20th space, and the fluff did mention several designs in the hands of the Omega Galaxy. Where they got them- hook or by crook- nothing says. After the Wars of Reaving, the Sprite is available to all factions that still use protomechs, but they are all far down the RAT list.
SPRITE 2
INTRO: ~3072
FACTIONS (3072-3075): Clan Coyote, The Society
FACTIONS (3085): None
WEAPONS: ER Large Laser
ARMOR INTERNAL
(9) (4) Arms -> Cored: 55 pts
/ \ / \ Legs -> Cored: 68 pts
(6 / 30 \ 6) (4 / 15 \ 4) Torso -> Cored: 31 pts
| | | | | | Legs -> Destroyed: 23 pts
( 15 ) ( 8 )
Now, while some would describe the Sprite 2's drop of it's speed to 3/5/3 or its additional point of armor to the legs, i'm just going to point out that there now is a protomech carrying an ER Large laser in a torso mount. Please, take a moment to consider the implications of a 15 ton 'mech eating an AC/20 round and returning fire with the equivalent of a PPC.
Anyway, despite the realization that it was 500kg overweight (thus loosing the useful Light TAG from it's right arm) the Sprite 2 is still super deadly but suffers from it's own setback- like the origional, it's size. Stading only one level high and being able to only jump 3 really limits the ability of the Sprite to provide any type of supporting fire, and it's torso mount will hinder it slightly. Using one is easy- it just comes down to keeping it's range and line of fire open. Feed the Sprite 2 targets and don't be afriad if someone rushes it! He can easily tank some of the worst hits. Unfortunately, if you wanna use a Sprite 2, your choice is limited to a 3 year span with the Coyotes or their “friends” - after the Wars of Reaving the Sprite 2 disappears from the RATs completely.
By my calculations, the BV of the Sprite 2 is 590, which considering what seems to be a standalone use shouldn't be too hard to use. Since Protomechs don't make PSRs, I think you could risk making one into a good sniper.
SPRITE 3
INTRO: ~3072
FACTIONS (3072-3075): The Society
FACTIONS (3085): None
WEAPONS: Fusillade x2, Medium chemical laser x2 (30 rounds total)
ARMOR INTERNAL
(9) (4) Arms -> Cored: 55 pts
/ \ / \ Legs -> Cored: 67 pts
(6 / 30 \ 6) (4 / 15 \ 4) Torso -> Cored: 31 pts
| | | | | | Legs -> Destroyed: 22 pts
( 14 ) ( 8 )
Filling out the last of the readoutis the Sprite 3, the version that suffered the heaviest revision by TPTB. Origionally, the Sprite 3 seemed like a slapdash design meant to get every available gun to the field- all it carried was 4 Fusillade weapon systems, with 2 in the torso and 1 in each arm. Problem is, the Sprite 3 broke the rules in doing so as even the ultraheavy protos can't mount more than 1 ton in their arms. So TPTB decided to change the readout of the Sprite 3, dropping the twin arm-mounted Fusillades for Medium chemical lasers and giving each laser a 15-round magazine.
The redesign is obviously much better- Fusillades to me are supplementary weapons like an underslung grenade launcher on an assault rifle, and its typically a bad idea to base your whole armrament around a 2-shot weapon system. But with the redesigns added guns, the Sprite 3 suddenly gains added firepower that it has a chance of using- while a 3/6/9 range weapon isn't much to the clans, the Sprite 3 still moves 3/5/5 and the fusillades give it a some options. Personally I still see the configuration as very situational, but as a bodyguard for other slow-moving Society mechs like the Osteon or Savage Coyote a Sprite 3 loaded with HE rounds could be a very nice deterrent- just be wary, that by my calculations the BV should be around 670 per unit. Not bad, but also not great despite the super-low BV of the fusillades. Sadly despite any advantage the Sprite 3 now has, it goes extinct like it's sibling at the end of the Reaving wars.
And that's pretty much it for the Sprite as a whole- a neat piece with some obvious and well reasoned flaws. Unlike Greekfire who actually knows how to end an article, I'll just say that the Sprite is a very easy protomech to learn superheavy rules on- each variant has one job and it does it well, and as long as it's not treated like an assault 'mech it'll do you more than enough. Just like the Gorgon, try taking a few and see how it goes- I think you'll like your new scientist overlords.
