Cavalier (Magshot) variant

[sillybrit]

Here's a variant of the Cavalier, that uses a fixed Magshot instead of the MWM on the original model of the suit. As I recall, I posted something like this before (who hasn't? LOL) or close to it, but it's gone with the rest of the archive.

Code: [Select]

        Classic BattleTech Battle Armor Technical Readout
                            VALIDATED

Type/Model:    Cavalier (Magshot)
               (2 Configurations)
Tech/Era:      Inner Sphere / 3063 / CBT Rules
Chassis Type:  Humanoid
Weight Class:  Medium Battle Armor (751 - 1,000 kg)
Rules:         Level 2, Standard design

Ground Speed:  10.8 km/h
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor Type:    Standard

==Overview:==
     During the development of the Magshot Gauss Rifle, engineers
at Federated-Barrett realized that the new weapon would be too
bulky for the modular weapon mount of the Cavalier suit, that was
then being deployed throughout the AFFC as the main trooper Battle
Armor. Unable to redesign the Magshot without causing a reduction
in performance, as well as forcing a delay in the anticipated
Infiltrator Mk II, Federated-Barrett regretfully had to inform the
AFFC High Command of the issue, disrupting the plans to match the
Cavalier and Magshot together as one of the standard
configurations.

     Federated-Barrett and Albion Advanced Technologies and
Products, one of the manufacturers of the Cavalier, never forgot
the missed opportunity, and during the early days of the FedCom
Civil War they together proposed a redesign of the Cavalier, that,
like the Infiltrator Mk II, would mount a fixed Magshot on the
right arm. With additional mass available, Albion engineers took
the opportnity to mount both an anti-personnel mount and a squad
support system on the left arm.



==================================================================
Configuration: [Base]
Equipment:                                          Slots    Mass
Chassis Type:  Medium Class Humanoid                  0       175
Motive System: Ground Movement (1 MP)                 0         0
               Jump Jets       (3 MP)                 0       150
Armor Type:    9 Points Standard                      0       450

Manipulators:
  Left Arm:    Battle Claw                            0        15
  Right Arm:   None                                   0         0

Fixed Weapons & Equipment            Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Magshot Gauss Rifle                  RA        20     3       175
Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount          LA               1         5
Squad Support Weapon Mount           LA               1         0
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               5       970
Slots & Mass Available for Configurations:            5        30

==================================================================
Configuration: Firedrake

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
(Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)        LA/APWM          0         0
Firedrake Support Needler @          LA/SSWM   30     1        25
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               6       995
Slots & Mass Left:                                    4         5

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     439,410 C-Bills
Battle Value:   47 (188 for 4)  Weapon Value: 28 (Ratio=.60)
Cost per BV:    9,349.15
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 2   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: TAG

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
(Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)        LA/APWM          0         0
Light TAG @                          LA/SSWM   60     1        18
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               6       988
Slots & Mass Left:                                    4        12

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     449,010 C-Bills
Battle Value:   47 (188 for 4)  Weapon Value: 25 (Ratio=.53)
Cost per BV:    9,553.4
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 2   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, tag, car4

                Created by HeavyMetal Battle Armor

From my notes, I think the BV2 for the Firedrake config is 51 (265 per squad), and for the TAG config it's 50 (261 per squad), but I'm not 100% certain whether those values are for this version or another one.

[Moonsword]

Not bad either way, although I'm still unclear why you wouldn't simply mount the light TAG on every suit.  Redundancy, if nothing else.

[sillybrit]

That's another of the versions, that also replaces the Battle Claw with twin Basic Manipulators. The fluff for that version comments that the engineers simply copied the arm design for the Infiltrator Mk II, including APWM on the left arm, to speed up the design process and also benefit from shared production of those components with Achernar BattleMechs. On that model, the TAG is mounted over the shoulder, ala Predator - cheesy, I know. 

[Sabelkatten]

Hmm... I wonder, what if the AFFC had rebuilt the IS Standard with (basic) stealth armor to create the Cavalier? They use stealth armor on pretty much every other BA, so it's not that much of a stretch.

8 points basic stealth weight 10 kg less than 9 points standard, so you could even add in the APWMs missing from the Standard.

[Davion_Boy_74]

Nice, Thanks for sharing  O0 , have you got a LRR or a MRR or even a HRR variant(s) of the Cavalier BA to share ?.

Dave.

[sillybrit]

Hmm... I wonder, what if the AFFC had rebuilt the IS Standard with (basic) stealth armor to create the Cavalier? They use stealth armor on pretty much every other BA, so it's not that much of a stretch.

8 points basic stealth weight 10 kg less than 9 points standard, so you could even add in the APWMs missing from the Standard.

Which is close to another of my Cavalier designs. As I sort of let slip in the BAotW article, the Cavalier annoys me, even though it's one of the most common suits I've used thanks to all the FCCW campaigns I had to play. The appearance is just plain ugly and I felt they missed a chance to make it truely a "redesign for Davion pride", which is why I've revisited it so many times. A stealth Cavalier would have been a perfect chance to establish an all-stealth Battle Armor corps.

For what it's worth, here's one of those alternatives I'd come up with, also using the idea of the twin Basic Manipulators to establish a commonality with the Infiltrator Mk II, which I later borrowed for one version of the Magshot variant. The Infiltrator Mk II established in canon that the Suns were comfortable with the idea of reducing armor for other features, with the Grenadier an extension of that paradigm into the Assault class, so the reduction in armor from 9 to 8 points can be seen as reasonable in the thinking of the AFFC/AFFS.

(As a note, I also liked the idea of the Combine switching to a 8 point standard for my alternate Raiden, closer to the prototype version, but in their case it was to be able to mount more weaponry, in their case a vibro-claw and APWM, which I felt would better match the aggressive mindset of the Kuritans and their sword obsession. For the Capellans, I copied the theme of their warships (odd, I know, but I was looking for a shtick), which valued toughness over firepower, upping the armor to 10 & accepting the lower weapon payload; eventually however they'd produce a 2nd gen CC Standard with a fixed LRR & twin basic manipulators. The Lyrans are the ones I'd leave with the canon IS Standard, due to them having greater interest in quads and thus not interested in pursuing other ideas.)


The SSWM could also be used to carry a variety of other equipment alongside the main weapon configuration, with the weapons shown intended to only be an example of the mass available. For example, I could see the MG configuration being used in urban combat with a SSWM-mounted Active Probe to sniff out possible ambushes, or the Laser configuration mounting a TAG instead of the Firedrake, or the Recoilless configuration mounting a ECM Suite instead of the MG, and so on.

Code: [Select]

        Classic BattleTech Battle Armor Technical Readout
                            VALIDATED

Type/Model:    Cavalier (alt)
               (6 Configurations)
Tech/Era:      Inner Sphere / 3058 / CBT Rules
Chassis Type:  Humanoid
Weight Class:  Medium Battle Armor (751 - 1,000 kg)
Rules:         Level 2, Standard design

Ground Speed:  10.8 km/h
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor Type:    Basic Stealth

==================================================================
Configuration: [Base]
Equipment:                                          Slots    Mass
Chassis Type:  Medium Class Humanoid                  0       175
Motive System: Ground Movement (1 MP)                 0         0
               Jump Jets       (3 MP)                 0       150
Armor Type:    8 Points Basic Stealth                 3       440

Manipulators:
  Left Arm:    Basic Manipulator                      0         0
  Right Arm:   Basic Manipulator                      0         0

Fixed Weapons & Equipment            Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Missile-Capable Modular Weapon Mount RA               1        10
Squad Support Weapon Mount           LA               1         0
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               5       775
Slots & Mass Available for Configurations:            5       225

==================================================================
Configuration: Laser

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Small Laser                          RA/MWM-M  30     1       200
Firedrake Support Needler @          LA/SSWM   30     1        25
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               7     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    3         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     448,650 C-Bills
Battle Value:   39 (156 for 4)  Weapon Value: 18 (Ratio=.46)
Cost per BV:    11,503.85
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 1   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: Flamer

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Flamer                               RA/MWM-M  10     1       150
Flamer @                             LA/SSWM   10     1        75
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               7     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    3         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     446,375 C-Bills
Battle Value:   36 (144 for 4)  Weapon Value: 19 (Ratio=.53)
Cost per BV:    12,399.31
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 1   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 1    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: MG

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Machine Gun                          RA/MWM-M  50     1       100
Medium Recoilless Rifle @            LA/SSWM   20     2       125
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
  (with High-Explosive Ammo)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               8     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    2         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     443,900 C-Bills
Battle Value:   40 (160 for 4)  Weapon Value: 33 (Ratio=.83)
Cost per BV:    11,097.5
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 2   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: SRM

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
SRM 1                                RA/MWM-M   4     2       100
Medium Recoilless Rifle @            LA/SSWM   20     2       125
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
  (with High-Explosive Ammo)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               9     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    1         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     443,980 C-Bills
Battle Value:   43 (172 for 4)  Weapon Value: 44 (Ratio=1.02)
Cost per BV:    10,325.12
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 3   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: Firedrake

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Firedrake Support Needler            RA/MWM-M  30     1        50
ER Small Laser @                     LA/SSWM   20     2       175
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               8     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    2         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     441,412 C-Bills
Battle Value:   34 (136 for 4)  Weapon Value: 27 (Ratio=.79)
Cost per BV:    12,982.71
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 2   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/-/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 1    Specials: mec, car4

==================================================================
Configuration: Recoilless

Config Weapons & Equipment           Loc     Shots  Slots    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Recoilless Rifle               RA/MWM-M  20     2       175
  (with High-Explosive Ammo)
Machine Gun @                        LA/SSWM   50     1        50
 @ Trooper #1, other 3 troopers have: (Anti-Personnel Weapon Space)
------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                               8     1,000
Slots & Mass Left:                                    2         0

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:     439,900 C-Bills
Battle Value:   45 (180 for 4)  Weapon Value: 25 (Ratio=.56)
Cost per BV:    9,775.56
Damage Factors: SRDmg = 2   MRDmg = 0   LRDmg = 0
Mechanized:     Can travel on OmniMechs and OmniVehicles
Attacks:        Can perform Swarm and Leg attacks
BattleForce2:   Class: IB   MP: 3J   Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
                Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-   Overheat: 0
                Point Value: 2    Specials: mec, car4

                Created by HeavyMetal Battle Armor


[sillybrit]

Nice, Thanks for sharing  O0 , have you got a LRR or a MRR or even a HRR variant(s) of the Cavalier BA to share ?.

Dave.

For the LRR, all you need to do really is shove one on a canon Cavalier, nothing else really needed.

I have technically designed a MRR version, but I prefer making that an alternative Longinus instead, due to the need for Advanced armor to retain the level of protection. It could be done with Standard armor - just take a Cavalier and drop the protection to 8 points - but the AFFS apparent willingness to accept lower armor values is accompanied by stealth to partially compensate, so I don't think it fits their design ethos. For my view of an Advanced armored & MRR-capable suit, see here.

The HRR is one of those weapons that I generally avoid. It really is too heavy & bulky for what advantage it offers over the MRR for my tastes. For example, even using Advanced armor you'd have to drop the protection to 8 to be able to mount the HRR on a Medium chassis, as well as being unable to mount it via an arm-mounted MWM. You could use a body-mounted MWM, but then you lose the ability to inflict damage in Swarm attacks, so really you're stuck with a fixed HRR, although even with a Battle Claw instead of Basic Manipulators you'd have enough space and mass for a couple of APWMs if you wanted them.

[Davion_Boy_74]

Sillybrit, Thanks I understand what your saying  O0  I like the idea very much of the Cavalier alt switching to Stealth Armor (& even dropping that 1 point of protection),

Sorry to sound "off" but your last design post, seems to be missing equipment in some of the 6 configs... I really hate the coded lay out's (not your fault it's how it is in the forum, to me there hard to read), only the base & SRM config show equipment the other configs seem to be the same ...... should they be that way ?, if so Sorry.

Dave.

[sillybrit]

Thanks for spotting that. It's not the forum, HMBA occasionally does wierd crap, especially with mixed configurations and custom equipment.

[Lazarus Jaguar]

Not bad.  Better than the ideas I've been kicking around for improvements on the Cav ( I was tinkering with improvements on mobility).  Yours seem to be better suited t more situations thanwhat I had in mind.