Aerospace Craft of the Rimward Frontier and Aurigan Reach

[Daryk]

Sarna lists their values in Gs, not thrust points.  You have to multiply their numbers by two for thrust points.

I don't think the MUL has "modern" prices listed yet, but I hope they will eventually.

[deathzealotzero]

Sarna lists their values in Gs, not thrust points.  You have to multiply their numbers by two for thrust points.

I don't think the MUL has "modern" prices listed yet, but I hope they will eventually.

Blink. Okay. That is confusing say I only have a handful of Sourcebooks and the one that I do have that sports the Leopard is actually a fan-created one. TRO: 3028. And I noticed it has the numbers from Sarna on top of its entry but the TRO section on the bottom has the Thrust Points. Sigh. So I also got a bit confused.

Anyways. I went back to the drawing board sort of speak for the Leopard AS and came up with this TRO. I used the Clan's Noruff Class as a basis since I saw that it sports a similar tonnage to that of the Leopard. Still had to up the tonnage of the Leopard AS up to the regular Leopard tonnage of 1,900 to make it work correctly.

Code: [Select]

Leopard AS Assault Dropship
Type: Military Aerodyne
Mass: 1,900 tons
Use: Assault Dropship
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Introduced: 3000
Mass: 1,900
Battle Value: 4,956
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-E-D-D
Cost: 284,290,848 C-bills

Dimensions
    Length: 62.25 Meters
    Width: 42.15 Meters
    Height: 22.0 Meters

Fuel: 142 tons (5,680)
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Heat Sinks: 75
Structural Integrity: 16

Armor
    Nose: 304
    Sides: 256/256
    Aft: 208

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Fighter (2)             1 Door   
    Bay 2:  Small Craft (1)         1 Door   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (60.0 tons)       1 Door   

Ammunition:
    32 rounds of LRM 15 ammunition (2 tons),
    45 rounds of AC/20 ammunition (2 tons),
    72 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (3 tons)

Escape Pods: 4
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  3 officers, 2 enlisted/non-rated, 8 gunners, 9 bay personnel, 16 marines

Notes: Mounts 60 tons of standard aerospace armor.

Weapons:                    Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)              Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (58 Heat)
3 AC/20                 21   6(60)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    AC/20 Ammo (30 shots)
3 Medium Laser          25   3(31)   2(16)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    2 Large Laser
2 LRM 20                12   2(24)   2(24)   2(24)    0(0)  LRM         
    LRM 20 Ammo (24 shots)
RW/LW (20 Heat)
2 Medium Laser          14   2(18)    1(8)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    1 Large Laser
1 LRM 20                 6   1(12)   1(12)   1(12)    0(0)  LRM         
    LRM 20 Ammo (24 shots)
RW/LW Aft (21 Heat)
2 Large Laser           16   2(16)   2(16)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
1 LRM 15                 5    1(9)    1(9)    1(9)    0(0)  LRM         
    LRM 15 Ammo (16 shots)
Aft (29 Heat)
2 Medium Laser          22   3(26)   2(16)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    2 Large Laser
1 AC/20                  7   2(20)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    AC/20 Ammo (15 shots)


Sigh. Still I am going to keep with the 1500 tons for the Leopard AS since I guess I am not all that great with creating TROs. I actually prefer doing something like what I did with the Trojan II and not coming up with direct numbers that is the TRO. Speaking of which nothing on the Trojan II?

[Daryk]

I've mostly been head down in errata for Campaign Operations today, sorry.  I might have more time tomorrow.

As far as working the numbers, don't sweat it too much.  It can be very confusing, and as good as Sarna is, it doesn't always make things clear.

Keeping the design at 1900 tons make sense, honestly.  You're fluffing it as a variant of an existing ship, and it's much easier to keep the tonnage -based stuff (engines, controls, etc.) the same.

[DOC_Agren]

I like the revised Leopard AS Assault Dropship at 1900 tons.
more thoughts,
MoC has an mod that replaces the LL with PPC      might be better for AS model
I would drop the rear AC20 for more HS

I missed the Trojan model..  they have some good ideas but without some hard # hard to make comments

[deathzealotzero]

I've mostly been head down in errata for Campaign Operations today, sorry.  I might have more time tomorrow.

As far as working the numbers, don't sweat it too much.  It can be very confusing, and as good as Sarna is, it doesn't always make things clear.

Keeping the design at 1900 tons make sense, honestly.  You're fluffing it as a variant of an existing ship, and it's much easier to keep the tonnage -based stuff (engines, controls, etc.) the same.

Okay. I never really done TROs all that much I didn't really come from playing the game itself outside of the video games, and books. I came from the likes of other sci-fi properties like Mass Effect where mainly Codex styled entries were the thing like I kind of did with the Trojan II. So I may not worry all about the numbers really all that much in my stories. I tried to do it that way due to many in the Battletech fandom using TROs as background in their own fan fiction stories. I may not due to everything not going my way in building my own ship designs in MegaMekLab. Shrug.

I like the revised Leopard AS Assault Dropship at 1900 tons.
more thoughts,
MoC has an mod that replaces the LL with PPC      might be better for AS model
I would drop the rear AC20 for more HS

I missed the Trojan model..  they have some good ideas but without some hard # hard to make comments

I am aware of the MoC variant but in all honestly, I did have PPCs added to the design but when I finished building the ship in MegaMekLab it was slightly over tonnage, therefore, started to prune down the weapons first. The PPCs were dropped first along with a few other lasers including another pair of large lasers, and a trio of medium lasers. That I had in the aft-facing arc of the ship. As for the aft AC20 I simply moved the fourth AC20 from the nose to the aft to better give the aft arc some better firepower. 

Shrug. Honestly. I am pretty much giving up trying to do TROs for dropships since this happened and my annoyance with MegaMekLab with some stuff I wanted to do with my own designs but cannot do not being able to do whatever I wanted in the MegaMekLab program. I am sorry but as I mentioned above I came from outside of the Battletech fandom therefore did not really put down hard numbers on my custom ships and such till now. At least outside of basic things like sizes, and such anyways.

Still thanks for the post.

[Daryk]

I use a spreadsheet to do ships, personally.  MML's user interface never really did it for me.  I prefer Solaris Skunkwerks for 'mechs and vehicles, even though I have to hand tweak fractional accounting.

[deathzealotzero]

I use a spreadsheet to do ships, personally.  MML's user interface never really did it for me.  I prefer Solaris Skunkwerks for 'mechs and vehicles, even though I have to hand tweak fractional accounting.

Huh. Is there any other tools out there available for building things like Dropships and such for Battletech? That is easier to use then MML?

[Daryk]

Just because I don't know of any doesn't mean there aren't.  I'm sure others may know of some.

[DOC_Agren]

I am aware of the MoC variant but in all honestly, I did have PPCs added to the design but when I finished building the ship in MegaMekLab it was slightly over tonnage, therefore, started to prune down the weapons first. The PPCs were dropped first along with a few other lasers including another pair of large lasers, and a trio of medium lasers. That I had in the aft-facing arc of the ship. As for the aft AC20 I simply moved the fourth AC20 from the nose to the aft to better give the aft arc some better firepower. 

Shrug. Honestly. I am pretty much giving up trying to do TROs for dropships since this happened and my annoyance with MegaMekLab with some stuff I wanted to do with my own designs but cannot do not being able to do whatever I wanted in the MegaMekLab program. I am sorry but as I mentioned above I came from outside of the Battletech fandom therefore did not really put down hard numbers on my custom ships and such till now. At least outside of basic things like sizes, and such anyways.

Still thanks for the post.

And I had to mention the PPC model because I always thought that it was interesting MoC made it, not 1 of the bigger houses.
Don't feel bad, my last dropship I did by hand was missing so much.. Quickcell looked at it and said "Even we can't build this to sell, and look what we sell"  
I have always like the Leopard as an Assault Ship so seeing yours had me thinking back 1 I had the TC using back in the old days. 
I like the way to load/off load fighters..
I know u are most likely done with mod, but you added the small craft bay for Marine transport, but look at the "old school Assault Ships" Avenger and Achilles  1 carries no extra craft, the other 2 fighters and 2 small craft but both carry marines.  What if you were drop the small craft bay, and just keep the 2 fighter bays, and if you want the option for small craft upgrade the 2 bays to Smallcraft Bays.

And if you can tell/write good stories just don't let the stats fully get in the way.

[CVB]

What!?! But that is what Sarna says about the Safe Thrust and Max Thrust for the regular Leopard!

Sarna says (and that wasn't changed for at least three weeks):
Safe Thrust    2 g
Max Thrust    3 g

As one thrust point is the equivalent of 0.5 g, the Leopard has 4/6 thrust points, for 2/3 g

[deathzealotzero]

So, I just threw this together after my latest time playing Battletech and I got an interesting idea. Basically, the Jumpship we see in-game is said to be an Invader Class by the powers that be, basically a modern version of the jumpship. However, many have said it is not an Invader due it to sporting what looks to be four docking ports on the central area of the ship when the Invader only has the three. Other things also get pointed out since then by other hardcore Battletech players. With that in mind, I decided to take a stab at creating a new Jumpship design, the Liberator Class Jumpship.

Code: [Select]

Liberator Class Jumpship
Mass: 200,000 tons
Use: Jumpship
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 2900
Mass: 200,000
Battle Value: 970
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-E-D-F
Cost: 859,060,972 C-bills

Dimensions
    Length: 510 Meters
    Width: 102 Meters

Fuel: 61 tons (305)
Safe Thrust: 0
Maximum Thrust: 0
Sail Integrity: 4
KF Drive Integrity: 5
Heat Sinks: 120
Structural Integrity: 1

Armor
    Nose: 9
    Fore Sides: 8/8
    Aft Sides: 6/6
    Aft: 4

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Small Craft (2)         1 Door   
    Bay 2:  Cargo (500.0 tons)      1 Door   

Ammunition:
None

Dropship Capacity: 4
Grav Decks: 2 (250 m, 250 m)
Escape Pods: 0
Life Boats: 8
Crew:  6 officers, 26 enlisted/non-rated, 2 gunners, 10 bay personnel, 10 passengers

Notes: Equipped with
    1 Satellite Imager [Infrared Imager]
    1 Field Kitchen
    1 Satellite Imager [High-Resolution (Hi-Res) Imager]
    1 Communications Equipment (2 tons)
    1 MASH Equipment (2 theaters)
68.5 tons of standard aerospace armor.

Weapons:            Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)      Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV      ERV    Class       
Nose (8 Heat)
1 Large Laser    8    1(8)    1(8)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
FRS/FLS (6 Heat)
2 Medium Laser   6   1(10)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
ARS/ALS (6 Heat)
2 Medium Laser   6   1(10)    0(0)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       
Aft (8 Heat)
1 Large Laser    8    1(8)    1(8)    0(0)     0(0)   Laser       


Capabilities

The Liberator Class Jumpship is basically the merging of the more popular Invader Class Jumpship with that of the Tramp Class. With the Liberator sporting the weapons of the Tramp and the armor of the Invader, not to mention the looks of the latter Jumpship design. It also sports four Dropship Docking Ports an improvement over either of the other two jumpship designs. Liberator Class Jumpships also sports a pair of large rotating gravity decks bigger than any other jumpship design which does give the design an overall comfortable feel for its crew and crews of visiting dropships.

Overview

The Liberator Class Jumpship was originally constructed in the early days of the Succession Wars by Sterope Defense Industries for the use of the Taurian Concordat and its interests. While it did look similar to that of the Invader Class produced in the hundreds in the Inner Sphere, the Liberator actually takes after the earlier outdated Liberty Class Jumpship design including its counter-rotating gravity block design. This gave the Liberator an extra docking port, several weapons, and the two large rotating gravity decks.

Deployment

From 2785 to that of 2803 Sterope would produce nearly sixty of these ships before a raid from an unknown party heavily damaged Sterope's sole Jumpship Yard, ending the production of the class. Around two dozen of these ships remain in the hands of the Taurian Concordat, five ended up in the hands of the Magistracy of Canopus, four ended up in the hands of the Outward Alliance, another three became the centerpiece of the future Gwendor-Dorwinion Cartel, and another dozen are spread across the rest of the Periphery including the Rimward Frontier. The rest were destroyed or heavily damaged in the chaos of the Succession Wars.

History

First produced in March of 2785 a couple of years after the start of the First Succession Wars by Sterope Defense Industries. Sterope and the Concordat believe that with the Star League gone no one was around to prevent them from start constructing new Jumpships for their use. The result of this would be the Liberator Class Jumpship which was designed after the aging Liberty Class Jumpship design that was still in operation in some parts of the Periphery. The Liberator improves on this base and takes the idea of an armed jumpship a bit further adding several lasers across the ship's hull to prevent raiding by pirates. It also sports four docking ports and a pair of large rotating gravity decks making it a superior jumpship design. Sadly in August of 2803, an unknown force of aerospace fighters breached through Sterope's defenses and heavily damaged the sole Jumpship Dock. This brought an end to the production of the Liberator but more than a few dozen remain intact and ply the trade lines in the Periphery both independent or owned by a larger faction like the Taurian Concordat.

[glitterboy2098]

given the general similarity to the Invader, i'd just assumed the ships were Liberty class or some knockoff thereof

[David CGB]

Nice jump ship

[DOC_Agren]

very nice Jumpship

[killfr3nzy]

@deathzealotzero

ASF can carry troops again, so you don't necessarily need Small Craft Bays to transport boarding teams - just one or two modified Sabres/Fireflies per ship.

For example, your basic Sabre could just drop to 1 MedLas and carry 20 basic Foot Infantry - although something like 18 (3 reduced squads of 6) and 200kg of oxygen might be a better idea.
I don't know how much weight per troop-time is required, nor how long a mission might be expected to take, so others would have to help you there.

But you should be able to get back to the 4xFighter compliment that you wanted, without losing any capability.

[Daryk]

20 troops per ton?  Where did you get that number? 

Tech Manual has 1 ton carrying one squad of up to 10...

[killfr3nzy]

Drop to 1 MedLas, from 3. So yes, 10/ton.

Could have been clearer, I guess.

[Daryk]

Ah, ok... that adds up! 

[DevianID]

I like the idea of the small craft honestly.  Search and rescue, planetary landing, patrol craft et all are best handled by small craft, and fighters can use the small craft bay.  Honestly I think a 4 small craft Leopard for 800 tons cargo and 100 tons more armor/guns is better than a mix of fighters and small craft.  Leopards in a military configuration are still pretty valuable to the Reach, so a small craft carrier could offload some of the threat of fighting to the more replaceable craft.

For a fighter, we have somewhat reputable sources that they have a steady supply of 280 fusions coming in from the concordat--enough of them to use on vehicles--so I think a 280 rated aerospace fighter at 40 tons fits the bill nicely, with 9/14 thrust, to represent their 'top shelf' aerospace superiority fighter with imported engines.

For the jumpship, I can see the Liberator serving as flagship for an impoverished periphery power; a nice 'one of' for an invading force to call home on campaign.

[CVB]

For a fighter, we have somewhat reputable sources that they have a steady supply of 280 fusions coming in from the concordat--enough of them to use on vehicles--so I think a 280 rated aerospace fighter at 40 tons fits the bill nicely, with 9/14 thrust, to represent their 'top shelf' aerospace superiority fighter with imported engines.

And offers the option of a later heavy fighter design at 70t with 6/9 thrust and nice common logistics.

[DevianID]

Yeah a 70 ton 6/9 heavy fighter for after the 4th succession war when industry is better after the civil war would be cool to show the reach's progress.

[deathzealotzero]

given the general similarity to the Invader, i'd just assumed the ships were Liberty class or some knockoff thereof

I always thought the new Jumpship Design seen in both Battletech and MW5 was a new modern take on the Invader but I figured I can use it as a representative of a new/old Jumpship design.

Nice jump ship

very nice Jumpship

Thank you. It was just something I threw together when I got the idea in my head.

@deathzealotzero

ASF can carry troops again, so you don't necessarily need Small Craft Bays to transport boarding teams - just one or two modified Sabres/Fireflies per ship.

For example, your basic Sabre could just drop to 1 MedLas and carry 20 basic Foot Infantry - although something like 18 (3 reduced squads of 6) and 200kg of oxygen might be a better idea.
I don't know how much weight per troop-time is required, nor how long a mission might be expected to take, so others would have to help you there.

But you should be able to get back to the 4xFighter compliment that you wanted, without losing any capability.

Blink. What? That doesn't sound all that great of an idea. Fighters carrying Infantry? The heck. Shakes head. Anyways I got an improved idea. I shall expand on that later in this post.

I like the idea of the small craft honestly.  Search and rescue, planetary landing, patrol craft et all are best handled by small craft, and fighters can use the small craft bay.  Honestly I think a 4 small craft Leopard for 800 tons cargo and 100 tons more armor/guns is better than a mix of fighters and small craft.  Leopards in a military configuration are still pretty valuable to the Reach, so a small craft carrier could offload some of the threat of fighting to the more replaceable craft.

For a fighter, we have somewhat reputable sources that they have a steady supply of 280 fusions coming in from the concordat--enough of them to use on vehicles--so I think a 280 rated aerospace fighter at 40 tons fits the bill nicely, with 9/14 thrust, to represent their 'top shelf' aerospace superiority fighter with imported engines.

For the jumpship, I can see the Liberator serving as flagship for an impoverished periphery power; a nice 'one of' for an invading force to call home on campaign.

Huh. I had forgotten that Fighters could use Small Craft Bays. So my earlier mentioned idea would be to have a pair of two Small Craft Bays, one on the bottom of the ship and the other on top. Fighters would often use the bottom bay, and the top bay is for Small Craft. Though an Assault Leopard can switch things up if needed like going all fighters or if needed all Small Craft.

That is pretty much why we mostly see the Liberator around the Reach and the Rimward Frontier is that it has become an icon of the Frontier. The Aurigans also had their hands on several of the craft as well.

And offers the option of a later heavy fighter design at 70t with 6/9 thrust and nice common logistics.

Yeah a 70 ton 6/9 heavy fighter for after the 4th succession war when industry is better after the civil war would be cool to show the reach's progress.

Perhaps. I haven't thought of doing an Heavy Fighter for the Aurigans yet.

[Atarlost]

For a fighter, we have somewhat reputable sources that they have a steady supply of 280 fusions coming in from the concordat--enough of them to use on vehicles--so I think a 280 rated aerospace fighter at 40 tons fits the bill nicely, with 9/14 thrust, to represent their 'top shelf' aerospace superiority fighter with imported engines.

They could also do a 35 tonner with the more common 10/15 thrust. 

[Daryk]

Allowing ASF to once again carry cargo was a solution to the Mark VII Landing Craft problem.  When the TW era of rules came in, Aerodyne Small Craft couldn't land vertically at all.  Then Strat Ops gave rules to allow that, but the rules as written literally meant destruction for any Small Craft attempting it (it involved mandatory CAPITAL SCALE damage, more than enough to kill a Small Craft).  The original Mark VII was only 100 tons, and could carry up to 65 tons of cargo.  It is now possible to design an ASF (not subject to those original Strat Ops rules) carrying a Light Vehicle Bay.  It's not quite the "deliver a Rommel or Patton to the battlefield" of the original, but it was close.

[DOC_Agren]

oh it could deliver a Patton, just like some of the US military airmobile vehicles, u know non-combat ready when it arrives...  some assemble required   

[Daryk]

Back in the day, they were combat ready.  "Bays" as we know them didn't exist yet.

[deathzealotzero]

So! Once again while I was playing Battletech I got an idea in my head and here I am again with a new unit to share. This is the Bastion Class Heavy Assault Dropship which is actually the Iberia from the game. This is mostly due to some of the errors seen in the game and that the Iberia is supposed to be a Fortress Class ship as canonized in the House Arano Sourcebook. However, like the Invader Class Jumpship shown in-game there are plenty of differences between the Iberia, what we see of it during the game, and the canon Fortress Class. For one, it doesn't actually resemble a complete Sphereiod Dropship it looks more like say an Aesir or a Duat Dropship with its square-like angles and such. At least on top of the ship anyways. It also doesn't have its Long Tom Artillery Piece in the nose but on the side of the nose. Then finally we often got the whole "Battalion" of Mechs Line when the Fortress only carried a company, a company that between missions at both Artu and Smithon you as the player pretty much destroy. I think during Artu you get to destroy a Recon Lance of Light Mechs, then a Heavy/Assault Lance tries to block you from reaching the second RV Point. So while Commodore Ostergaard and his men could have salvaged fallen mechs and put them back into the fight I doubt they had all that much remaining Mechs by the time of the Invasion of the Coromodir System at the end of the game. It is for these reasons I created the Bastion Class Heavy Assault Dropship. Enjoy!

Though one last thing here to mention, this is only the first version of the design and it may change in the future thanks to feedback by you guys on the forum along with any further ideas from myself.

Code: [Select]

Bastion Class Assault Dropship
Type: Military Spheriod
Mass: 13,500 tons
Use: Heavy Assault Dropship
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Introduced: 3010
Mass: 13,500
Battle Value: 12,783
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-X-E-D
Cost: 815,465,952 C-bills

Dimensions
    Length: 92 Meters
    Width: 124 Meters
    Height: 155 Meters

Fuel: 521 tons (15,630)
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Heat Sinks: 170
Structural Integrity: 31

Armor
    Nose: 443
    Sides: 374/374
    Aft: 305

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Mech (12)               2 Doors   
    Bay 2:  Mech (12)               2 Doors   
    Bay 3:  Small Craft (4)         2 Doors   
    Bay 4:  Cargo (1000.0 tons)     1 Door   
    Bay 5:  Infantry (Mech. Squad) (96)1 Door   

Ammunition:
    240 rounds of AC/5 ammunition (3 tons),
    270 rounds of AC/2 ammunition (2 tons),
    96 rounds of LRM 10 ammunition (8 tons),
    30 rounds of Long Tom ammunition (1 tons),
    120 rounds of AC/20 ammunition (24 tons),
    90 rounds of SRM 6 ammunition (2 tons),
    120 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (20 tons)

Escape Pods: 24
Life Boats: 25
Crew:  26 officers, 77 enlisted/non-rated, 19 gunners, 152 bay personnel, 12 passengers, 25 marines

Notes: Mounts 98 tons of standard aerospace armor.

Weapons:                      Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (216 Heat)
3 Long Tom                60    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Artillery   
    Long Tom Ammo (30 shots)
6 PPC                     60   6(60)   6(60)    0(0)    0(0)  PPC         
4 Medium Laser            44   5(52)   3(32)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    4 Large Laser
4 LRM 20                  24   5(48)   5(48)   5(48)    0(0)  LRM         
    LRM 20 Ammo (60 shots)
4 AC/20                   28   8(80)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    AC/20 Ammo (40 shots)
RS/LS Fwd (146 Heat)
4 Medium Laser            44   5(52)   3(32)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    4 Large Laser
4 AC/20                   32   10(100) 2(20)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    4 AC/5
    AC/20 Ammo (40 shots)
    AC/5 Ammo (60 shots)
2 LRM 20                  24   4(42)   4(42)   4(42)    0(0)  LRM         
    3 LRM 10
    LRM 10 Ammo (48 shots)
    LRM 20 Ammo (30 shots)
3 PPC                     30   3(30)   3(30)    0(0)    0(0)  PPC         
4 SRM 6                   16   3(32)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  SRM         
    SRM 6 Ammo (45 shots)
RS/LS Aft (39 Heat)
4 Medium Laser            36   4(44)   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    3 Large Laser
3 AC/2                     3    1(6)    1(6)    1(6)    1(6)  AC         
    AC/2 Ammo (135 shots)
Aft (60 Heat)
4 Medium Laser            36   4(44)   2(24)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    3 Large Laser
4 AC/5                     4   2(20)   2(20)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    AC/5 Ammo (120 shots)
2 PPC                     20   2(20)   2(20)    0(0)    0(0)  PPC         


Brief History

The Bastion Class Heavy Assault Dropship was a new Dropship Design that came from the Taurian Concordat's System Defense Monitor Project. A project that was to develop a suitable design that could be used in the defense of a world, station, or solar system of the Concordat. However, the Bastion wasn't a spacebound Monitor but a new Heavy Assault Dropship. This had originally been a failed design that was able to land on planets if needed, and only later developed into a new Heavy Assault Dropship. A design that while heavily based on the Fortress Class Assault Dropship was actually a whole new design for the use of transporting two Battlemech Companies, a Mechanized Infantry Company, and an attached platoon of Marines. It also sported a trio of Long Tom IV Artillery pieces, mounted around the nose of the Dropship and a vastly larger armament. Making it one of the most powerful Dropships in the service of the Concordat Navy.

Deployment

Sadly, the Concordat and the Taurus Territorial Industries could not produce many of these large Dropships as the Sterope Orbital Dropship Yard was barely able to handle the construction of such a large Dropship Design. Therefore, only around six ships of the class were built as of 3025. The Bastion, Stronghold, Citadel, Georgia, Hispania, and the Iberia. Though the Iberia would go rogue and then be destroyed during the final weeks of the Aurigan Civil War, and the Citadel would be heavily damaged in the so-called Great Pirate Raid of 3025. The remaining four ships of the class would be retained by the Concordat Navy for many years ahead through the trails of the Fourth Succession War, and the Clan Invasion. Though there were attempts to produce more of these ships by the Concordat and Taurus Territorial Industries over the years they never went through as other more smaller and cheaper designs were better to produce in the long run.

[DOC_Agren]

Back in the day, they were combat ready.  "Bays" as we know them didn't exist yet.

i remember those days we had few rules and tech to fight with

[deathzealotzero]

So! Once again I decided to change things up with my Fanfiction Idea. Before, I had the Markham's Marauder's Dropship Hysteria as a modified form of my own created Trojan-II Class, but I got an interesting message over on my friend's Discord Server where I was talking about my future plans for the Marauders with a friend of my friend who is more into the original Battletech tabletop game. He gave me the idea to actually use a modified Mule Class Dropship instead of my Trojan-II. The result of this would the following TRO and a brief background blurp about it. This friend of my friend also mentioned his own idea when he had read about my idea about the barely mentioned Lyreton Dockyard which would be the Burro Class. Which is a completely rebuilt Mule Class to serve a more military transport role than the standard Mule for the use of many in the Rimward Frontier Periphery. Each Burro Class is pretty much unique thanks in part to customer demands and being practically rebuilt from the ground up by the Lyreton Dockyard personnel. The following TRO and Background is actually for the Hysteria itself which is a bit different from that of "regular" ships of its class which are often either a combined arms transport or an entire vehicle/infantry transport depending on what is needed.

That said. Here we go.

The Indepedent Dropship Hysteria

Unit Profile

Code: [Select]

Burro Class (Modified) Dropship
Type: Military Spheriod
Mass: 11,200 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Introduced: 3012
Mass: 11,200
Battle Value: 3,280
Tech Rating/Availability: D/X-X-E-D
Cost: 284,699,128 C-bills

Fuel: 381.5 tons (11,445)
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Heat Sinks: 165
Structural Integrity: 12

Armor
    Nose: 219
    Sides: 184/184
    Aft: 149

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Mech (4)                1 Door   
    Bay 2:  Mech (4)                1 Door   
    Bay 3:  Cargo (300.0 tons)      0 Doors   
    Bay 4:  Light Vehicle (12)      2 Doors   
    Bay 5:  Cargo (150.0 tons)      0 Doors   
    Bay 6:  Cargo (150.0 tons)      0 Doors   
    Bay 7:  Small Craft (4)         2 Doors   
    Bay 8:  Cargo (3200.0 tons)     1 Door   
    Bay 9:  Infantry (Mech. Squad) (96)1 Door   

Ammunition:
    40 rounds of AC/5 ammunition (2 tons),
    25 rounds of AC/20 ammunition (1 tons),
    30 rounds of SRM 6 ammunition (2 tons),
    84 rounds of LRM 20 ammunition (2 tons)

Escape Pods: 12
Life Boats: 12
Crew:  10 officers, 30 enlisted/non-rated, 8 gunners, 180 bay personnel, 100 passengers

Notes: Mounts 43 tons of standard aerospace armor.

Weapons:                    Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)              Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (13 Heat)
1 AC/20                  8   3(25)    1(5)    0(0)    0(0)  AC         
    1 AC/5
    AC/20 Ammo (25 shots)
    AC/5 Ammo (40 shots)
1 Medium Laser           3    1(5)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
2 Small Laser            2    1(6)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Point Defense
RS/LS Fwd (25 Heat)
1 SRM 6                  4    1(8)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  SRM         
    SRM 6 Ammo (15 shots)
2 Medium Laser           6   1(10)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
3 Small Laser            3    1(9)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Point Defense
2 LRM 20                12   2(24)   2(24)   2(24)    0(0)  LRM         
    LRM 20 Ammo (42 shots)
RS/LS Aft (14 Heat)
1 Medium Laser          11   1(13)    1(8)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    1 Large Laser
3 Small Laser            3    1(9)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Point Defense
Aft (11 Heat)
1 Medium Laser          11   1(13)    1(8)    0(0)    0(0)  Laser       
    1 Large Laser


General Background

The Hysteria the Dropship and mobile home away from home for the mercenary unit known as Markham's Marauders. It originally started life as a typical Mule Class Transport Dropship before like several other former Mule Class would be converted into a customized configuration known as the Burro Class which are often a full-on militarized transport design by the talented engineers and techs of Lyreton Space Docks. The Hysteria was no different from other converted ships of its new class, however, what changed with this particular ship was that it was further modified from the original base design of the Burro into something a bit more different. As Julius Markham CO and Owner of Markham's Marauders needed a new dropship to replace his unit's two aging converted Danais Class ships. This would be the addition of a dedicated passenger deck for the ship which replaced one of the two cargo bays on the original Burro design which could be configured either for a combined arms unit transport, a mech transport, or a vehicle/infantry transport. This deck was for the use of the mercenary unit's various hangers-on and dependents which was something needed since the Marauders were not often with a client for very long for a dedicated supporting base facility or something similar with their contracts. Leaving their support staff and dependents needing to be housed on their dropship when it was required. It also sported a pair of bays for eight battlemechs, a bay for an attached light vehicle company, and a bay for the attached mechanized infantry company. Each of these transport bays sported an attached cargo bay for supporting cargo like parts, ammo, and other supplies needed to keep the units in the attached bay running. Then the ship retained the Burro Class Small Craft Bay though was mostly used to carry a mix of aerospace fighters for supporting its deployed units and small craft. Finally, the Hysteria retained the first major cargo bay of other Burro Class ships which sported the ability to carry three thousand two hundred tons of cargo.

Overall, the resulting dropship was an interesting design that served its owners for nearly twenty years through some of its more difficult years. It saw the devastation of the unit at Fjadr, which saw the ship damaged and dozens of Marauder dependents killed from said damages. Then when the unit was put on retainer by the Aurigan Coalition which would allow the Marauders to finally have a true planet to call home the Coronation Day Massacre happened saw the unit fleeing from the former Coalition capital Coromdir VI. Still, the Marauders continued on as they had done so for nearly half a century moving about the Frontier taking small-time mercenary jobs till the time that the unit was reformed into a brand new unit. Even then the Hysteria would continue to be used by the new unit till they would receive the mysterious former Star League Exploration Ship Argo as their new home base from their new client, the deposed High Lady of the Aurigan Reach Kamea Arano and her Arano Restoration. The Hysteria would then be loaned out to the Restoration Army to help in transporting their forces during the crucial liberation of Weldry. From there it would continue to serve the Restoration for much of the rest of the Aurigan Civil War. Afterward it is unknown what had happened to the Hysteria as its previous owners retained the use of the Argo as their mobile base and home away from home.

[DevianID]

For the hysteria I always assumed it was a civilian leopard.  If you take the 6 bays and weapons off a standard leopard you get a cheap transport with over 1k in cargo.  The video game shows the leopard dropping off 4 mechs and 4 heavy vehicles, which fit within the 1000+ tons of cargo a civilian leopard could hold when modified by the mercs for transport.