The genesis of the Charger variant known as Challenger II is a tale of bureaucratic infighting and willful misinterpretation of instructions. Late during the rein of Adam Steiner a small group of social generals that styled themselves the 'Lyran Traditionalists' managed to temporarily take control of battlemech procurement. The distinguishing feature of the group was a solid conviction that anything lighter than a Warhammer was so much wasted metal. They were not able to override their mandate, but they did play significantly fast and loose with it when they could, including using the scout mech budget to invest in what might be the slowest, toughest scout ever.
When the LAAF split from the AFFC, Nondi Steiner re-installed several policies, including one that designated the Charger as a scout mech. Given that there were very few Chargers still in Lyran service as of 3057, this was mostly irreverent and ignored. However, it let the Traditionalists start a design team to upgrade those in mothballs to a modernized standard; to add insult to injury, they directed that the team start with the CRG-SB variant as the standard.
The team head, on the other hand, was not of the Traditionalist school, and went out of his way to make something nobody could consider an adequate scout. While the SB2 is up-engined from the 3025 Challenger, that is offset by hardened armor, making it as slow as ever, topping the maximum speed of an Atlas by barely a kilometer. There were no advanced electronics, and upgrades to the sensors were minimal, mostly to simplify maintenance. The weapons array was expanded by turning the medium laser to a fifth large, and the heat sinks were changed to firing the entire array could be almost indefinite. However, by the turn of the 32nd century the 450 meter range was medium at best, making it vulnerable to longer ranged attacks.
The project was almost killed in the live-fire trials when the prototype was boxed in by a pair of Hunchbacks that any proper scout could have avoided with ease, and hit in the head by a 200mm autocannon burst, falling on it's back. Despite that, the hardened armor let it survive, and struggle to it's feet while absorbing two more autocannon bursts and a dozen medium laser strikes (one of the hunchbacks was a -4P.) The trial ended with the mech limping to the goal line, having successfully completed an urban 'reconnaissance in force' on the enemy, demolishing most of them in the process.
The Challenger II's deployment created enough disturbance to unseat the Traditionalists, however. A light force might appreciate a big brother with toughness an Atlas might envy, but coordinating with one in the field was an obstacle that many commanders failed to overcome.
Charger CGR-SB2 "Challenger II"
Mass: 80 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: All Eras (non-canon)
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-F-A
Production Year: 0
Cost: 17,759,820 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,837
Chassis: Unknown Endo-Composite
Power Plant: Unknown 320 Fusion XL Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54.9 km/h (54.0 km/h)
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Unknown Hardened
Armament:
5 Large Lasers
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Unknown
Targeting and Tracking System: Unknown
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Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Internal Structure: Endo-Composite 122 points 6.00
Internal Locations: 1 LT, 1 RT, 1 LA, 2 LL, 2 RL
Engine: XL Fusion Engine 320 11.50
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6 (5)
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 20(40) 10.00
Heat Sink Locations: 2 LT, 2 RT, 2 LA, 2 RA
Gyro: Standard 4.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor: Hardened AV - 164 20.50
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 25 24
Center Torso (rear) 7
L/R Torso 17 20
L/R Torso (rear) 7
L/R Arm 13 15
L/R Leg 17 20
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Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
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Large Laser RA 8 2 5.00
Large Laser LA 8 2 5.00
Large Laser RT 8 2 5.00
Large Laser LT 8 2 5.00
Large Laser CT 8 2 5.00
Free Critical Slots: 1
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 11 Points: 18
4 4 4 0 0 4 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
