Nighthawk Mk. XXXIII PA(L) (experimental)

[Black_Knyght]

This design was NOT developed by me, but by the Gamemaster in our current Battletech campaign.

Given my unfamiliarity with Battle Armor and creating them, I thought I'd post it here to get some general feedback on it. Please bear in mind this is supposed to be a GM created one-off, and not actually a production level design.


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An advanced experimental model of the Nighthawk PA(L) developed by the SLDF for possible deployment with elite Special Forces Command units. Very little is known about this prototypical model, although rumor has it that several examples of this design slated for field testing by SLDF units were lost and presumed destroyed when the shuttle transporting them was lost after suffering catastrophic engine failure and crashing.


Nighthawk Mk. XXXIII PA(L) (experimental)

Code: [Select]

Nighthawk Mk. XXXIII PA(L) (experimental)
IS Advanced Power Armor (Light)

BV: 107
Cost: 1,800,000 C-bills

Movement: 3/3/3

Internal: 4
Armor: 8
                     Internal    Armor
--------------------------------------
Trooper 1                   1        2
Trooper 2                   1        2
Trooper 3                   1        2
Trooper 4                   1        2

Weapon                              Loc     Heat
----------------------------------------
SRM 1 (Right arm)                   Squad     0
Laser Rifle (Mauser 1200 LSS) (APM) Squad     0
Swarm Mek                           Squad     0
Attack Swarmed Mek                  Squad     0
Stop Swarm Attack                   Squad     0
Leg Attack                          Squad     0

Equipment                      Loc
----------------------------------
Armored Glove (Left arm)       Squad
Armored Glove (Right arm)      Squad
BA Stealth (Body)              Squad
BA Stealth (Body)              Squad
BA Stealth (Right arm)         Squad
BA Stealth (Left arm)          Squad

[Liam's Ghost]

A single shot SRM might not be the most ideal anti-mech weapon it could carry. On the other hand, for its date of introduction and the available space and mass, it's either that or the micro-grenade launcher. So there may be some sense to it, given the SRM has a longer reach.

Was the Mauser 1200 in the antipersonnel mount what they came with? Because that's a later word of blake variant of the Mauser 960.

[Black_Knyght]

The Mauser 1200 in the antipersonnel mount was what the GM placed there, I think. Not sure what the reason or why. Might be because it's an experimental prototype that maybe the Wobbies copied later? Just a guess.

After a little more discussion with the GM, it seems the "intended" role of this experimental design was as a kind of "terrorist strike" thing, wherein the would fire their missiles, cause chaos, and do their stealth thing until the smoke cleared.

[pheonixstorm]

prototype 1200 was 3052 by WoB during the Clan invasion. The SRM 3050 by the FedCom

So, no where near a Star League design overall. The XXX should only have a Mauser 960. It does have a nice walk/run of 3 hexes but not worth it when the XXII has an anti-mech weapon, though a BA grade MG would work better.

I would ask your GM why (s)he is using Clan invasion era tech on a Star League era crashed transport.

[worktroll]

Probably because said GM hasn't spent decades steeping in BT minutia, and just saw the coolest looking infantry weapon which he figured would appeal to his/her players :)

One suggested fix - they're actually Mouser I200s, a Rim Federation ripoff of the Mauser 960. Just make sure the wreck belongs to ComStar, and not the fiendish agricultural conglomerate Cornstar ... :D

[Lazarus Jaguar]

Why have an APWM at all on a suit with armored gloves?  Just carry the rifle and save 5 kilos

[Liam's Ghost]

I can hardly imagine the one shot SRM 1 to be particularly outside of the Star League's capabilities. One might as well argue no non-canon units at all in that case.

[sillybrit]

Why have an APWM at all on a suit with armored gloves?  Just carry the rifle and save 5 kilos

It doesn't have an APWM, the rifle is carried in the gloves. This looks like MegaMekLab output, and that would have an equipment entry of "Anti Personnel Weapon Mount (Right arm) Squad" or "Anti Personnel Weapon Mount (Left arm) Squad" if it had an APWM. The (APM) notation on the Mauser appears to be how MML shows that the weapon has been assigned to a location.

Having multiple AP weapon mounts can be useful, and not just in ATOW games. At the TW scale, optional rules allow the stats of the actual infantry weapons to be used instead of all being treated as an assault rifle as default. You can still only fire a single AP weapon per turn, but you can chose the best weapon for the situation if you mount/carry different weapons. For example, a suit with both gloves and an APWM might have a Starfire carried in the gloves for long range shooting while a M42B is fitted to the APWM for superior short-range firepower.

In any case, there isn't enough slot space to mount an APWM given that a PAL only has 6 slots and the stealth armor and SRM1(OS) take up 4 and 2 slots respectively. Plus saving 5kg, if there was indeed 5kg to save, wouldn't really do anything for this particular design.

Aside from the anachronisms, the design is slightly incorrect. From the placement of the armor slots and the SRM name, it looks like a SRM1 was assigned without any ammo instead of a SRM1(OS), so the BV, CBill cost and armor slot locations are wrong. The right arm slot for the armor should be moved to the left arm, while the squad would cost 1790000 CBills or 59 BV (assuming a Mauser 1200 still, 1782000 CBills and same BV for a 960).

I can hardly imagine the one shot SRM 1 to be particularly outside of the Star League's capabilities. One might as well argue no non-canon units at all in that case.

Arguably true, but then cans and worms appear. Why not Recoilless Rifles, Light TAGs, Firedrakes, LMGs or HMGs? A good case can be made for all, even with the last two originally being Clantech. Where does it stop? The Star League might have had the wherewithal to do all of that if they set their mind to it, but they were only just starting to look at the Nighthawk as more than a spec ops exoskeleton armed with infantry weapons when Amaris put a halt to all the development.

[imperator]

Arguably true, but then cans and worms appear. Why not Recoilless Rifles, Light TAGs, Firedrakes, LMGs or HMGs? A good case can be made for all, even with the last two originally being Clantech. Where does it stop? The Star League might have had the wherewithal to do all of that if they set their mind to it, but they were only just starting to look at the Nighthawk as more than a spec ops exoskeleton armed with infantry weapons when Amaris put a halt to all the development.

Why not?  RL10s are actually a forgotten thing, so why not the recoilless rifle, light TAG, and others that make sense? As much senses as an unarmored Night Hawk.  There are lots of stuff that was semi common, but we don't even halve stats or fell out of canon.  Like the Half-rifle Laser, or Holdout Laser Crystal or from The original SL book.  If its fro your table , anything is possible.

[Liam's Ghost]

Arguably true, but then cans and worms appear. Why not Recoilless Rifles, Light TAGs, Firedrakes, LMGs or HMGs? A good case can be made for all, even with the last two originally being Clantech. Where does it stop? The Star League might have had the wherewithal to do all of that if they set their mind to it, but they were only just starting to look at the Nighthawk as more than a spec ops exoskeleton armed with infantry weapons when Amaris put a halt to all the development.

Because of the pseudo-correlation between battle armor weapons and infantry support weapons, I'd argue for that being the line, and allow the League the option of using any battle armor weapon for which they already posses an approximate infantry equivalent. Battle armor weapons aren't quite battlemech weapons after all, and until relatively recently, they were actually treated as equivalent to infantry support weapons at the smallest scale.

[Black_Knyght]

Probably because said GM hasn't spent decades steeping in BT minutia, and just saw the coolest looking infantry weapon which he figured would appeal to his/her players :)

BINGO !!!

I have no doubt the GM added it the way he did for the sake of reinforcing in our current storyline that this was an experimental and secretive design lost ages ago in a tragic accident, and not with any thought to maintaining strict adherence to the canonicity of BT minutia. ::)

And he came up with a solution I personally think works just fine - Since this is a local game campaign and not an "official" game, he simply "renamed" the gun to something outside of canon, to reflect it's experimental nature. He even justifies it as a possible basis for the officially canon gun used later. ;)

Additionally, the choice of weaponry on this particular lost design is entirely experimental, and while other choices may have arisen later or might be better it's still an experimental proof of concept and not a canon production design intended for general use.
 

[Lazarus Jaguar]

Having multiple AP weapon mounts can be useful, and not just in ATOW games. At the TW scale, optional rules allow the stats of the actual infantry weapons to be used instead of all being treated as an assault rifle as default. You can still only fire a single AP weapon per turn,...

I never did agree with that rule though.  kinda limiting IMO.  While people have pointed out it's to prevent abuse, I did come up with other ideas to prevent that.