Ferox Aper Infantry Fighting Vehicle
Mass: 35 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 140 ICE
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
2 Light AC/2
Manufacturer: Marian Arms, INc.
Primary Factory: Horatius
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3081
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-F-D
Cost: 585,450 C-bills
Overview
The Ferox Aper (or "Wild Boar") Infantry Fighting Vehicle was created by the order of Caesar Cassius O'Reilly of the Marian Hegemony to create an inexpensive but flexible vehicle to support infantry formations. As Hegemony infantry organization favors larger groupings of troops, they often found that vehicles available from non Marian manufacturers were unable to meet their needs.
The seeds for what became the Ferox Aper project were sown during the Hegemony raid into the Free Worlds League in the waning days of the Jihad. Hoping to take territory from the rapidly disintegrating League, Caesar O'Reilly launched invasions of Kendall, Lahti, Landfall, and San Nicolas.
The Marians managed to take Landfall, but desperate forces on Kendall used nuclear weapons extensively against II Legio, nearly destroying it. The Marians found themselves forced into retreat. While some Battlemech and Vehicle forces were able to retreat to Landfall, a massive 80 percent of Infantry forces attached to II Legio were unable to make it to the retreating DropShips. Worse yet, the Marians had committed around 60 percent of their total available Battle Armor assets to the campaign, only for the vast majority of it to be destroyed in the fighting or subsequent retreat.
Capabilities
The disaster on Kendall brought into stark focus how ill-equipped the Marians were to move their battle armor assets on the battlefield. While they did tend to attach battle armor units to what OminMechs they had, those ‘mechs were few and far between for the Marians, and so they often made use of conventional vehicles to transport their armor.
The problem was the most commercially available infantry transports were geared towards the smaller 4-man Inner Sphere battle armor squad. A Contubernum of Marian armor is 5 men. The Marians had tried to make up the difference logistically by assigning battle armor formations 20 percent more transportation assets than an equivalent Inner Sphere formation would use. However, the additional shipping required to move these assets across interstellar space often meant these were left behind during fast movement such as assault or retreat.
It was this ersatz reduction in transport that caused the disaster on Kendall. Transportation assets simply were not available when and where they were needed. When the time came Marian infantry formations were either unable to escape the blast radius of nuclear devices, or they were unable to make it to rendezvous points before they had to be evacuated. Many were simply abandoned.
Caesar O'Reilly approached Marian Arms to solve this issue. He wanted an infantry fighting vehicle built from the ground up to support battle armor assets. It should be able to support them in the field against nearly any kind of foe. It should have good cross-country mobility. It should be easily maintained and modified in the field. Most importantly it needed to be price effective.
The resulting product was the Ferox Aper, or "Wild Boar". This 35-ton armored vehicle had the carrying capability to transport a full 5-man Contubernum of medium battle armor. Though it did not have a blistering top speed, its tracked chassis gave it cross country mobility that allowed battle armor formations to keep up with the assault. It carried enough armor to take hits from light or medium Battlemechs without being disabled. It was also fairly well armed.
Primary armament was a pair of Light auto-cannon. These weapons were chosen for flexibility, as their ability to use specialty ammunition would allow their load out to be tailored to whatever enemy the formation was intended to be facing. Conventional infantry forces could be brought low even at range with flechette rounds. Airborne enemies could be taken on with either precision or flak ammo. Even Battlemechs could be threatened by the use of armor piercing projectiles.
The designers went beyond simply mounting a turret, however. They left several mounting points for various types of weapons and equipment to be mounted in the field by unit armorers. Moreover, a space on the forward hull was left so that bow weaponry could be mounted as well. This meant that many Ferox Apers were modified in the field, and quite a few variants have been spotted in the field.
Deployment
II Legio had been the tip of the Marian spear almost from its inception, and so rebuilding it was a priority for Caesar O'Reilly. They were quickly moved to the top of the replenishment list for battle armor, and the first units of Ferox Apers were assigned to them as well. II Auxilia Loricatus Legio, the infantry force attached to II Legio, had a company of "Inner sphere standard" battle armor mechanized by Ferox Apers by 3085.
Other units would find the Ferox Aper assigned to them as well. I and IV Legio would get their own within a decade. However, this proved to be something of a problem. The Marians had never managed to produce a medium battle armor. The Introduction of the Ravager in 3084 meant that the primary Marian battle armor would mass too much for the Ferox Aper to carry.
History
Following the introduction of the Ravager the Ferox Aper slowly began to fade from Marian battle armor units. The Marians would look elsewhere to transport these, as well as the Marauder when it was introduced in 3110.
Ferox Apers found themselves reassigned to non-armored infantry units. There they proved quite popular, as they were just as capable of supporting an un-armored unit as they were an armored one. Production at the Marian Arms plant on Horatius slowed considerably since the model was first introduced, but it has never really ceased.
Variants
Many variants of the Ferox Aper exist. These are mostly done in the field by individual units, either because they require a unit to perform dedicated tasks or because they are unable to obtain replacement parts for the weapons in service.
The most common of these replaces both auto-cannon with a pair of medium lasers, along with the amplifiers and heat sinks required to use them. This variant is actually available as a refit kit from the factory, and it is used when the primary foe is expected to be enemy Battlemechs or armored vehicles. To allow for some utility against conventional infantry, a bow machine gun is fitted.
A second variant proved to be a popular refit with troops on Landfall following the conquest of that world. It affixes a Diverse Optics Extended Range Medium Laser, as well as a small pulse laser, both in the turret. This proved quite popular with crews due to its ability to engage armored targets at a longer range than the standard medium laser equipped model, while still retaining some coaxial weaponry for use against infantry.
At least one Ferox Aper has been seen replacing its pair of light autocannon with a single rotary model. It is unknown where this weapon come from, or how it came to be in use by a Marian infantry unit. Only one has been seen an it is unlikely to become a standard refit.
Perhaps the most drastic refit became commonplace during a subsequent uprising on Landfall. This dedicated urban assault variant pairs a quartet of vehicle flamers with a pair of machine guns in the turret. It also mounts a bulldozer blade to the font of the vehicle. Several of these were built by the Marians for urban assault and riot suppression duties. The flamers can be loaded either with anti-riot chemical spray for riots. The bulldozer blade was often used to clear rebel barricades.
Type: Ferox Aper
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Movement Type: Tracked
Tonnage: 35
Battle Value: 340
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 3.5
Engine 140 ICE 10
Cruising MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: 0 0
Control Equipment: 2.0
Power Amplifier: 0.0
Turret: 1.0
Armor Factor (Ferro) 80 4.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Front 4 20
R/L Side 4/4 16/16
Rear 4 12
Turret 4 16
Weapons
and Ammo Location Tonnage
2 Light AC/2 Turret 8.0
LAC/2 Ammo (45) Body 1.0
Infantry Body 5.0
