Battle Armor transport vehicle?

[Black_Knyght]

I thought I'd ask here what people consider to be the best CBT Inner Sphere BA transport vehicle around 3075-80?

[ANS Kamas P81]

Maxim (I).  Carry three squads with some light support weapons.

[Sartris]

Dragonfly (Viper). 8/12/8 is the only way to get a squad around.

The Bandit / Bandit (C) can each do one squad in the cargo bay + one riding on the exterior. The Hephaestus Scout Tank does the same thing. The Blizzard is always welcome in my force - the LRM-5 is great for mines / smoke. I'm personally a fan of the WoB Pinto VTOL.

[Colt Ward]

BA transport?

On the ground or in the air/space?

On the ground?  If its just to transport I like the Saxon APC for my Warden Wolves, moves 10/15 with a 5 ton bay and decent armor.  If we are talking about transport & fire support I like the Tyr.  If its my mercs, then I like the Blizzard APC . . . nearly as fast and it has a 6t bay (prefer 6 troop BA squads b/c of rules & massing fires), has a missile launcher that can either drop smoke or start fires though its thin skinned.

In the air/space?  Style points goes to the Kirghiz C for the real meaning of 'Death From Above.'  The Shun VTOL is just great, it gets the job done in a convincing fashion with its speed, stealth armor & cargo space.  I also like the Landing Craft Mk VII for utility.

[pheonixstorm]

Using what weight?? Standard 1 ton per tropper? Tac Ops BA weights? .25 per trooper for PAL, .5 for Light BA? 2 tons for assault BA??

[Natasha Kerensky]

For a Clanner, in order of preference...

Open Terrain:
Fire Moth (external)
Epona (external)
Bandit (C) variant (internal)
Tyr (internal)

Difficult Terrain:
Viper (external)
Anhur (internal)

[worktroll]

Okay, if you like your Rolls Royce gold-plated ... the Manteuffel D. Eight ton infantry bay means you can carry 3 BA squads - two in, one outside. Omnitank, y'know. Two LPPCs and an LRM-10 make great infantry support weapons.

The Bandit & Badger both have configs with 8-ton infantry bays, for two in one out configs.

The stock Heavy APCs are a tad inefficient with 6-ton bays, but can't be beaten for return on investment.

I have a sneaking love for the Svantovit. It really should have been omni-fied if only for the tack-on options. But it looks so cute!

[Kidd]

Putting in a word on the VTOL side, cause I agree with most of the above already - Cavalry Infantry is my go-to squad delivery VTOL with 3 medium lasers "just for kicks". Cavalry Infiltrator does good as a supercharged stealthed spec-ops model too.

[Foxx Ital]

NL-45, for when you wanna play the cops theme while rolling thru space.

[JadeHellbringer]

Shun. Decent speed, stealth armor makes it hard to hit, thick plating means it doesn't care even if you DO hit it, carries everything but the kitchen sink, and has TAG to call in artillery as an extra 'bite me' move on the way out.

[sadlerbw]

No love for the Karnov? 11/17 VTOL, plus it is dirt cheap. 125BV to carry 6 tons of infantry! Only downside is that I guess it wouldn't work on airless moons or other places where an ICE engine won't run.

The Bolla Stealth Tank can be pretty interesting if you like C3. It has stealth armor and I believe it is an Omni, so you get the 4T bay inside plus another squad hanging outside. Also, I don't believe carrying BA outside the tank affects the ability to use stealth armor, so you can still get the benefits. The down-side is that they are expensive units, and they are wheeled.

Honestly, I like my APC's cheap and either hover or VTOL. I don't really want them to carry more than two squads (three if they are Omni's) because I don't want to spend more than a turn or two sitting still to unload. I tend to stay away from the fancier stuff and either use dirt cheap units like the Karnov or the heavy hover APC from 3060, or slightly nicer hovers with missile racks that I can use to lob smoke or infernos (hey, fires are another way to make smoke!) So, the Svantovit and Maxim upgrades work well for me. I also like the Tyr quite a bit, but prefer the Kurita version as the Streaks on the Clan version can't fire special ammo, but the MML's on the Kurita version can.

If the terrain makes hovers a no-go, I'd probably stick with the Karnovs. If even the Karnovs couldn't find a place to land (like on a complete forest map) than I'd just hang the BA off an omnimech.

[Jellico]

Nightlord battleship. Because I get bored answering "Leviathan" all the time.

[Kharim]

I see nobody mentioned Maxim mk II. With 16 ton infantry space, twin MML3 and two tons of ammo it is the best carrier I can think of. You can easily load a squad of assault BA inside and there is still room for more!

[SCC]

May I suggest the RYo? Nothing beats the ability to carry 27 squads and unload them 6 at a time.

[The_Livewire]

BA transport?

On the ground or in the air/space?

On the ground?  If its just to transport I like the Saxon APC for my Warden Wolves, moves 10/15 with a 5 ton bay and decent armor.  If we are talking about transport & fire support I like the Tyr.  If its my mercs, then I like the Blizzard APC . . . nearly as fast and it has a 6t bay (prefer 6 troop BA squads b/c of rules & massing fires), has a missile launcher that can either drop smoke or start fires though its thin skinned.

In the air/space?  Style points goes to the Kirghiz C for the real meaning of 'Death From Above.'  The Shun VTOL is just great, it gets the job done in a convincing fashion with its speed, stealth armor & cargo space.  I also like the Landing Craft Mk VII for utility.

Glad I'm not the only one who likes base six infantry.  Infiltrator II = mobile stealth SRM 6 :-)  Else, yes VTOL and hover all the way.

[JadeHellbringer]

May I suggest the RYo? Nothing beats the ability to carry 27 squads and unload them 6 at a time.

If you're dropping them off in relative safety, definitely. A WiGE- especially a support WiGE!- is so vulnerable to taking hits though that bringing a Ryu into heavy combat (where you'd want to unload battle armor at, generally) means you're just as likely to kill 27 squads from one LB-5X hit than anything else. I'd shy away from putting quite that many eggs in one basket.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Nightlord battleship. Because I get bored answering "Leviathan" all the time.

The Nightlord is a perfect BA carrier because it also come with several clusters of Mechs, very Lary weapon bays, and a lot of armor!

Now back on subject: even though I haven't actually played with any vehicles in my games yet, from what I've seen and heard my favorite would have to be the Epona and Tyr. Mech wise I've tried the Fire Moth but am slowly being converted to the Viper (and it's annoying me to no end)

[Col Toda]

Canon units , Battle Taxi small craft . Maxim II , Giddens , Hyro WIGE . Non anon unit a modified Canon Buffalo Support vehicle with Cargo converted to infantry / Battle Armor compartment that is 20 Assault BA Suits . Depending on if it is just rapid transport to the area you want to deny the enemy by getting there first speed is of paramount importance it is a much tougher call if you want to use them in the tactical battle itself .

[SCC]

If you're dropping them off in relative safety, definitely. A WiGE- especially a support WiGE!- is so vulnerable to taking hits though that bringing a Ryu into heavy combat (where you'd want to unload battle armor at, generally) means you're just as likely to kill 27 squads from one LB-5X hit than anything else. I'd shy away from putting quite that many eggs in one basket.

WiGE's are treated as flying units and need to make control rolls?

[JadeHellbringer]

WiGE's are treated as flying units and need to make control rolls?

WiGE units are treated as highly allergic to cluster shots (as per hovercraft) and tend to react poorly to motive hits- after all, if your Demolisher loses a movement point it just keeps rumbling along a little slower, but if a WiGE loses too many it can't fly anymore at all- which is very, very bad. Take a WiGE that moves 7/11 (hypothetical, don't overthink it), and take a motive hit from a single LBX round. You lost half your MP. Rounding up, that means you're 4/6. Which means you now need flank speed use just to stay airborne, and can only turn one hexside per turn (you need 5 to remain aloft). That's crippling stuff. Take one more. Now you can't turn at all and stay up, any turns- and you might need to do that now and then, pilot!- have to be made by landing, turning, and taking off again.

Yeah. WiGEs are as allergic to LBX rounds as a slug to salt- probably more deadly to them than any other weapon, and arguably more dangerous to them than they are to actual aerospace units. That's not to say they're useless, but if my opponent has anything like a Bandersnatch or Emperor or something with some cluster-guns to speak of, I'm not letting my Ryus (or any other WiGE) within a mapsheet of that mess.

[glitterboy2098]

WiGE's are kinda halfway between a VTOL and a hovercraft.. they don't have the full flight of VTOL's, but they do count as flying targets when it comes to the Flak special rules. which makes LBX AC's very effective at hitting them. and all the little pellets mean lots of chances to score motive system crits.

[Col Toda]

I will not disagree about the merits,or lack of such a WIGE Battle Armor transport . It was just the first Cannon one I could think of in 3075 with 8 tons of Battle Armor capacity . I fielded Kanazuchi Assault Battle Armor and since in 3058 they was nothing canon I had my Solaris VII garage scratch build some . It was a successful project using a Drilson chassis but expensive . Anyone following suit will tend to abandon s custom job once the market catches up  with a perceived need . I just hoped to see a transport before the many in 3085

[JPArbiter]

Little shocked there is no love for the Saxon APC. Can carry 4 or 5 man squads, fast as the dickens to enable a prcision drop off, particularly for an assault suit whose job is to hunker in place and create a road block

[worktroll]

Factional and period availability, plus being relatively new.

There's a lot of competition in the 4-ton area, and not many IS factions benefit from that extra ton of capacity. Marians might have, but they don't get access to Saxons. And for less than half the PV/BV, and for under a fifth of the cost, the Heavy Hover APC really does the same job.

They look sharp, and they're my go-to for representing HHAPCs, but beyond that ... meh.

[Colt Ward]

Yeah, honestly after the Jihad IMO the Warden Wolves and Republic Clan factions should have been buying up the Saxons.  Besides being slightly faster, the Saxon has nearly 3x the armor if those groups left it stock which is why I say its better b/c you can push it in closer before unloading the troops.

[Col Toda]

Battle Armor transport particularly Kanazuchi speed one Assault Battle Armor was a problem since its inception. In the old FASA days I had to resort to an expensive scatch build combat vehicle . Before 3085 the TROs just did not properly address the problem . In Fan Design under Non Combat Support vehicles I had a post called " Has anyone tried" in it I asked for help with a design for a single Battle Armor Suit Monocycle ultralight hover sled . In it someone came up with a 12/18 fuel cell vehicle that costs about 2,000 C Bill each . So 8,000 to move a squad . As a Motorcycle chassis it can go through light woods . Most suits cost 200-600 K each adding 2 more represents 1percent or less. Before 3085 Canon solutions was less than great almost forcing you to come up with one for yourself . The good news is the system lets you do it .

[glitterboy2098]

yeah.. not a lot of options with 6 tons+ of capacity. Karnov at 6 tons, Badger F at 8 tons..

the Badger F actually would make for an entertaining sight, given it can carry 2 squads of medium BA internally, and hanging on the outside.. on a 30 tons vehicle, it that would probably feel a bit like a clowncar when it unloads. (especially in Alpha Strike, where the units-per hex limits don't apply)

or you know, it could carry 56 infantry internally.. talk about cramped.

[RoundTop]

Hiryo wige has 8t, so it can carry 2 ba squads. With a snub PPC to provide cover fire.

[Kidd]

Giggins APC debuts around this time, no? that's a wheeled APC with 8 ton bay.

[Col Toda]

The WiGE APC was mentioned in earlier posts 3075 so it is tough to use correctly . The Giggens and Maxim II Both I think are in the 3085 TRO and the original post was for 3075-3080 . Clan options mentioned are good if you are the clans otherwise too expensive to maintain . The best options I see are going the support vehicle route for just transport or scratch built combat vehicle . There is no easy answer until the 3085 TRO and even then getting any of the early production runs over national units will be hard. This is one of the examples in Battletech that the TROs lag FAR behind a 3058 perceived  need to be addressed largely in the 3085 precieved solutions when they should have put out one in 3058 and many in 3060 TROs . This situation causes the orphan unit syndrome . That is a custom made or modified unit is created to fill a serious demand or need in which it is abandoned when manufacturers catch up with that need . The scratch built APC combat vehicles I made I would love to get rid of when the Maxium II came out with 16 ton infantry compartment but the Demand for it would be so high domestically  I could not buy enough of an exported units to fill my needs until likely 3088 at the earliest . The Giggins is slow and outside an urban theater under performs what I am currently using . So I am stuck suffering using an expensive combat solution for a 30 year window of time . Since this is a universal problem everyone that uses battle armor has I fully expect to see this subject to come up over and over again .