‘Mech of the Week: Superheavy ‘Mechs (Part 1)
I must be a glutton for punishment or something, because today’s colossal-sized ‘Mech of the Week article began as one super-sized article covering 3 ‘Mechs and an OmniMech. Why so many in a single article? Well, they’re a bit unique, kind of like the QuadVees. The 3 ‘Mechs each only have a single variant (one does have a variant in TRO3150’s New Tech, New Upgrades, but there’s no record sheet). Despite my desire to keep it all in one colossal, text-heavy, over-sized MotW, I have split it in two. Today’s Part 1 will cover all the current biped Superheavy ‘Mechs.
To start with, a little summary of the unique differences of Superheavy ‘Mechs. This won’t cover every little difference, but enough to allow us to better judge the design and performance of these beasts. Superheavies can be constructed as IndustrialMechs or BattleMechs, and Superheavy BattleMechs can be constructed as Omnis, but Superheavy IndustrialMechs cannot. Among those you can find bipeds, tripods, and quads. Bigger than standard ‘Mechs, Superheavies stand 3 levels tall, only receiving partial cover from hills or buildings 2 levels tall.
Movement-wise, Superheavies move like normal ‘Mechs, with a few exceptions. When it comes to stacking limits, only infantry may occupy the same hex. Even friendly ‘Mechs and vehicles cannot move through a hex occupied by a Superheavy ‘Mech, they must move around it. However, Superheavies have an easier time moving through woods, jungle, rough, rubble, and building hexes, subtracting 1 from the MP cost to move through the hex. Despite the larger size, Superheavies using the ‘Mechanized infantry & ProtoMechs rules cannot carry any more units than a standard ‘Mech.
In combat, Superheavies tend to suffer more drawbacks than benefits. Enemy attacks have a -1 to-hit against Superheavies, and anti-‘Mech attacks by infantry receive a -2 to-hit. A physical attack by a Superheavy ‘Mech has a +1 to-hit penalty due to the cumbersome nature. When a Superheavy suffers a critical hit everything in the slot rolled is hit and it only counts as a single hit.
That last rule may sound strange, but a benefit of Superheavy ‘Mechs is that the critical slots hold two crits instead of just one. Two single-crit items can be placed in the same slot, but only ones of the same type. For example, two Medium Lasers can be placed in a single crit slot, but a Medium and a Small cannot. If an item requires an odd number of critical slots, say 3 for an IS Double Heat Sink, that extra space is lost. For example, a pair of IS Double Heat sinks occupy 4 Superheavy critical slots, not 3. Actuators, the gyro, and head components occupy twice as many slots for a Superheavy as for a standard ‘Mech, but it works out to the same number on a record sheet.
Internal structure increases as expected, but the big difference is the Head. On all Superheavy ‘Mechs the Head has 4 points of structure, meaning it can have a max of 12 points of armor. It may not seem like much, but it reduces the list of head-capping weapons down to weapons dealing 16 points or more: 20-class autocannons, Thunderbolt 20s, Heavy Large Lasers, Heavy Gauss rounds at short or medium range, Improved Heavy Gauss Rifles, Heavy PPCs with capacitors, and Clan ERPPCs with capacitors. With standard ‘Mechs a 10-point hit would generate a crit chance, but on Superheavy ‘Mechs that no longer happens.
A few more construction bits. While Superheavies can only be constructed of Inner Sphere tech base, there are examples using Clan weapons. For the structure, the options are standard, Endo-Steel or Endo-Composite, all IS versions. The engine can be any type, as long as the engine is a fusion type. Armor can be any type, but Stealth Armor (along with Chameleon LPS, Null-Sig, and Void-Sig have no benefit on a Superheavy. Modular Armor may not be used, nor can armored components. No type of jump jet, jump booster, or UMU can be installed. Likewise, MASC, TSM, AES, and Superchargers are not allowed. Face it, Superheavies are slow and ground-bound unless they get shoved off a cliff.
I haven’t mentioned tripod benefits/penalties, but those will come later in Part 2. Now on to the ‘Mechs. By the way those are the
Omega SHP-X4 and
Orca OC-1X for today’s article and the
Poseidon PSD-V2, and the Ares Superheavy OmniMech for Part 2.
First up, the
Omega SHP-X4
MUL Image
MUL Link -
http://masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/4746/omega-shp-x4
Curtesy of CamoSpecs, painted by wackrabbit
Before I continue, I want to point back to a previous MotW on the Omega written by Moonsword http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=25142.0 It’s a good article, but since I was planning on covering the rest of the Superheavies, I wanted to take my own look at the Omega. The Omega was developed on Terra sometime during the Jihad. The design was still in the prototype testing phase when Stone’s Coalition retook Terra. Though the almost 30 prototypes were destroyed in the fighting and the factory itself was destroyed, elements of what would become the Republic recovered enough technical data to build their own Superheavy ‘Mechs later on.
The 150-ton Omega was surely a shock to the units that first encountered it. Much like when their parents first encountered the Clans, these warriors faced down something that looked like what they knew, but was harder to face. It absorbed more weapons fire and carried more of its own weapons than conventional wisdom thought possible. Fortunately for those warriors the numbers of Omegas in the field was far less than the Clan forces in the Invasion.
Moving a plodding 2/3 speed, the Omegas were used as defensive units around a few key installations. A 300 XL engine provides power, saving tonnage at the same time. Likewise an Endo Steel structure saves more tonnage. The standard armor shell weighs in at 27 tons, good enough for 432 points, more than any ‘Mech not mounting hardened armor. This works out to 94% coverage in a beefy pattern:
12
44/45(19)/60(20)/45(19)/44
62/62
The Omega has lots of armor, but it saved weight on structure and speed, that must mean there’s lots of weapons. And it does, 88.5 tons of weapons, ammo, and equipment. A trio of Gauss Rifles are mounted, one to each torso location, with 80 rounds of ammo to share. That’s the same as a Thunder Hawk’s firepower, but wait, there’s more. Each arm carries an LB 10-X with two tons of ammo. Each arm and torso location is protected by CASE II to minimize the impact of critical hits and ammo explosions. If you’ve done the math so far, stop it! Yes there’s still 2.5 tons left, that was used for a C3i computer, allowing a spotter to provide short-range targeting data for this slow beastie.
The fluff in Jihad Reckoning says that the Omegas kept allied forces mired in fighting. I can see that, particularly as part of a C3i-connected Level II an Omega will dish out the pain and not go down easily. The only real weakness, other than a lack of speed, is the Omega only has a base 10 single heat sinks. That’s more than enough for its weapon fire and movement, but infernos and plasma weapons can quickly overwhelm it.
There is a variant, the
Omega SHP-5R. During the Orca development project, some partially built Omegas were completed, removing the Endo Steel structure and the Gauss Rifles in favor of Heavy PPCs. These Republic Omegas were considered inferior to the Blakist versions.
Unfortunately, we don’t have a record sheet yet, or more of a description. If we swap Gauss for PPC at a 1-1 ratio, there’s 10 tons left over after the structure swap and Gauss ammo removal. The CASE II in the torsos can be removed at this point, but it’s not mentioned so who knows if it’s there or not. Even if the CASE II is removed and put into heat sinks, that’s still 20 or 23 single heat sinks. With a poor reputation and no mention of a heat sink swap, I would be surprised if the record sheet shows a swap to double heat sinks.
The Omega isn’t a great all-around unit, but as a defensive unit in a Level II as it was designed, I think it’s superb. Pull a Gandalf, park it where the enemy is trying to go and shout “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”. With spotting data from the rest of the Level II to improve its to-hit numbers you have plenty of ammo to fire till your armor is finally chipped away. In an offensive role, the Omega will struggle. Just it’s slow speed alone will hurt, requiring it to run most of the time just to get to the edge of the battle. The key weakness of the Omega is its single heat sinks. If hit by external heat sources, it will quickly overheat, even if it stands still and does nothing.
Next is, the
Orca OC-1X
MUL Image
MUL Link -
http://masterunitlist.info/Unit/Details/7356/orca-oc-1x Topping the scales at the limit of 200 tons. Technically this ‘Mech also has variants, although those appeared as part of two different April Fools products. The first product was TRO: Project Omega, released in 2003 I think. The variant with stats appears to use standard construction rules, but what would become Superheavy components and armor levels. Two other variants were briefly described in the product, but not clearly enough to construct them. The second product was Third League Turning Points: Free
Taiw…St. Ives released in 2012. Using “Third Generation” components and weapons, the
Orca ORC-7D is given a record sheet. It appears to use Superheavy construction rules (which had been published at the time). Also listed in the product, but not described or given a record sheet is a (presumably) older model
Orca ORC-1A.
Hinted at, taunted, & teased for a long time, the Orca became an “official” ‘Mech with the release of XTRO: Republic II. In the years after the formation of the Republic, the destroyed Omega production was partial rebuilt, enough to test out a Superheavy ‘Mech construction techniques and design. Built by hand, only a few test models of the Orca were reportedly built.
Maintaining the Omega’s plodding speed, the Orca uses a 400 XL engine to save tonnage. Much of that saved tonnage was spent on the standard internal structure. With the orbital facility destroyed Republic engineers were unable to duplicate the Omega’s Endo Steel structure. Armor coverage was increased in weight and percentage over the Omega, going up to 576 points or 96% coverage:
12
61/61(20)/90(30)/61(20)/61
80/80
The weapons package is a bit of a hodge-podge, but I think it works for such a slow, big target. It also happens to match the TRO: Project Omega April Fools stats almost exactly. Long range weapons consist of a pair of ERPPCs, an ER Large Laser, a Gauss Rifle, and a LRM20 rack. A Small X-Pulse Laser and SRM6 rack are the sole short range weapons along with a Guardian ECM. The right arm houses a Sniper Artillery Cannon for medium-range and area-effect shots. CASE II in each side torso limits the damage of ammo explosions or Gauss Rifle destruction. A total of 19 double heat sinks work to cool this potential 68 heat points of this savage beast.
While the Omega was clearly designed to work in Blakist formations, with spotters for targeting data and other units to provide cover, the Orca seems to be transitioning towards lone-‘Mech operations. The Gauss, PPCs, ER Large Laser and LRMs provide a heavy dose of firepower (and heat) on their own. But the choices of the rest of the weapons show experimenting in working solo. The Small X-Pulse and SRMs (with the right ammo) can work to ward off enemy infantry and battle armor. And the Artillery Cannon can flatten said units if it hits where it aims.
Overall, I think the Orca was a good step in the right direction, it gives the pilot plenty of weapons to choose from to defend itself or take on the enemy. The use of an XL engine was a good choice, even an IS-tech one. Looking back at that armor, it carries more on its side torsos than many 100-toners carry on their center, so cracking that shell will be tough enough. Using it, I would tape a brick to the gas pedal, just to get to the battle on time, or become a defensive unit. While it doesn’t need to be as much of a defense-only unit as the Omega, it’s still gonna have trouble crossing the battlefield to get to the fight.
Superheavies are like ‘Mechs in many ways, but they bring new considerations and challenges different from normal ‘Mechs. I’ve seen it pointed out in other threads, learning from game experience, that infantry and battle armor are the bane of the Superheavy ‘Mech. At 2/3 and sometimes even 3/5 speeds the big boys can’t always get away from the squishies. This makes them vulnerable to leg and swarm attacks, which are easier against Superheavies. (a -2 to-hit modifier). For a Superheavy, especially the slow ones, covering your legs, or having a buddy do it is imperative.
When it comes to strategic gameplay, or even some TW-scale scenarios, the size of Superheavies must be considered. The standard ‘Mech bay on a DropShip is only designed for ‘Mechs up to 100 tons. These bays allow for efficient repairs, maintenance, and deployment such as quickly exiting a landed DropShip or hot-dropping ‘Mechs into combat. Currently, there are no ‘Mech bays that can handle Superheavies. Instead, they must be loaded and handled as bulk cargo. The rules in Interstellar Operations specifically mention no combat drops, but there are likely penalties (or no bonuses) for repair work, longer times to deploy once a DropShip lands, etc.
The only DropShip mentioned to work with Superheavies of any kind was the Duat from TRO 3145 – Republic. The Duat was designed for the reformed Comguards, featuring 6 normal ‘Mech bays, a bay for 6x 6-trooper battle armor squads, a foot infantry bay, and a cargo hold capable of holding 678 tons of cargo. When the RAF adopted it into service the cargo bay was redesigned to 6 smaller 220 ton cargo bays with a 7th bay holding the rest of the cargo. These smaller bays are what the RAF units used as Superheavy bays for 6 Poseidons or Ares Superheavy Tripods.
At all but the largest scales, a Superheavy would take additional time to deploy from any DropShip and enter the battle. This combined with their generally slow speed would have an impact on planning and operations. Stereotypical Lyran Wall-of-Steel commanders shouldn’t have much trouble incorporating Superheavies into their commands, but many others likely will.
