Aerospace Fighter of the Week: Ogotai - 45t TRO Golden Century
All proposed fan-variants should be posted in the corresponding "Fans Rules and Design" thread.I have attached a timeline of early Clan OmniFighters to provide some context for the article.
The
Ogotai is the third OmniFighter to see service, and it is fair to say it is highly compromised. Where the
Goth gave us Ferro Aluminum armor and the Kirghiz gave us double heat sinks, the
Ogotai introduced XL engines to a OmniFighter frame.
The history of XL engines in aerospace fighters is slightly convoluted. For a long time, they were impossible. Then the Clans arrived with the XL powered OmniFighters. From there the Draconis Combine reverse engineered the Clan craft to produce the
Sai, and the rest of the Inner Sphere followed. Finally, it was revealed the Star League had the technology all along and a whole generation of Royal aerospace fighters had made use of XL engines. Which brings us back to the
Ogotai.
When the
Ogotai debuted in 2874 the Clans were deploying a mix of vintage SLDF, Royal, SLDF craft fitted with early Clan weapons, and the first generation of full Clantech fighters. Many of these featured XL engines, Ferro Aluminum armor, and double heatsinks. Mirroring the development of early aerospace fighters, the first generation of OmniFighters simply couldn’t. While the
Issedone and
Goth took existing rugged, modular fighters and expanded on them, Clan Sea Fox attempted something more with the
Ogotai.
That said, the
Ogotai isn’t completely new. A quick glace shows a
Tomahawk hiding under a new skin. Not surprising given the number of times
Tomahawks have been updated by the Clans. Six G of thrust is competitive enough for a 45-ton craft. Armor is adequate. There is only so much you can do, but it will resist penetration by 5-point hits on the wings and nose. The XL engine allows a comfortable 16.5 tons of pod space, but the
Ogotai’s main fault is its heat sinks. Twelve single heatsinks struggle to cool the heat built up by banks of Clantech weapons. Care had to be shown in choosing its weapons. The
Ogotai also suffers from Atmospheric Flight Instability which limits its deployment to orbital combat.
For all their flaws
Ogotais found a niche. Bigger than the new Clantech light aerospace fighters, more maneuverable than the mediums and heavies, better armed than the old SLDF fighters,
Ogotais faced little direct competition for a century.
Ogotais would serve until the 2990s when
Batus and
Sullas became available, rendering the
Ogotai obsolete. Unlike many other Golden Century Omnifighters no one has seen fit to put the
Ogotai back into production. Basically, it is too hard to carry a useful payload with the big bays and limited heat sinks. But I am sure there are a few still out there patrolling the Homeworlds, maybe even in an Occupation Zone PGC.
Prime: The connection to the
Tomahawk is most clear with the Prime. Sixteen heatsinks have no chance managing the heat from the wing mounted large lasers, but that isn’t the point. The
Ogotai can comfortably make slashing attacks with on laser and its LRM 10. Few of its peers can wear those kinds of hits for long. A medium laser aft nominally prevents tailgating.
A: The
Ogotai A is one for the math fans. Twelve heatsinks and every weapon produced four points of heat. A Medium pulse laser is paired with an Artemis IV guided SRM6 in the wings and nose. This gives the
Ogotai accurate bite at medium range, and an impressive 30-point strike at short. If you are willing to take the risk in atmosphere there is a lot to recommend this flying LB-20X.
B: And here is the fire support version. Twin LRM20s doing 12 points each make good use of the heat sinks but are frustratingly mounted in the wings making it hard to put both on the same target at once. On the other hand, five ER Small Lasers in the nose do 25 points of damage. So, a close in slashing attack can manage 37 points on target. Maybe those Foxes were onto something.
How do you use an
Ogotai? Much like the OmniFighters in TRO3055 the
Ogotai is built around slashing attacks off one wing. Technically it has the mobility to bring all of its weapons to bare, but it doesn’t have the heat sinks to use them. That said it is remarkable how close to a
Batu or
Sulla an
Ogotai get under Alpha Strike. When the damage is all averaged out the
A and
B especially are competitive. With its low BV the
Ogotai has potential as a giant killer in the simpler form of the game.
So how do you beat an
Ogotai? Like most fighters in its weight bracket the
Ogotai is fairly middling. Smaller fighters can outmaneuver it and get up its tail. Bigger fighters will have the hard-hitting guns to crit straight through its armor. Of course, the
Ogotai outguns the small and out flies the big. Engaging an
Ogotai in atmosphere is a smart move as it can’t use its thrust effectively. In orbit, turret up and deny it the chance to tailgate you. An
Ogotai is rarely going to be the main threat but you ignore it at your peril.
