'Mech of the Week: GRM-* GarmTRO3060's
Garm was introduced by Johnston Industries on New Syrtis in 3058 as a competitor to the
Valkyrie, long the AFFS's staple light fire support 'Mech. Named for the Norse equivalent of Cerberus, the
Garm hasn't seen that 'Mech's popularity in or out of character, with initial sales going mostly to mercenaries and a few Periphery realms, most notably the Taurian Concordat. After the Taurians invested in several production runs, the AFFC apparently felt that it was worth some attention and bought a few hundred for militias and second-line units. Beyond that, the
Garm has generally kept a fairly low profile, with appearances in Record Sheets: Upgrades and of course Record Sheets 3060 Unabridged. Given the damage that Johnston is still recovering from in the 3080s, it seems
Garm production has been, at a minimum, heavily disrupted and it seems possible it might be left to lapse entirely.
That might be because of how unimpressive the original GRM-01A is overall. Leaving aside the artwork, which is very typical of TRO3060 (albeit a cut above some of the ludicrous vehicle imagery), the design's capabilities are passable enough for fire support but not great. An endo-steel frame saves tonnage. The 175-rated Omni standard fusion engine is a mere seven tons and matches the typical
Valkyrie speed of 86 kph, and it also has the same 150 meter jump capability. Where the original GRM-01A comes up short is the armor. The
Valkyrie is usually fairly tough for its size and the first
Garm is anything but. Ferro-fibrous helps but with only 3.5 tons, there's only so much you can do. 62 points of armor offer a level of protection certain Succession Wars
Stingers and
Locusts actually exceed slightly. The 6 points on the head are vulnerable to punch through by Clan medium or IS large lasers (an LPL will actually take it off), the CT and sides have only 9 points, and the limbs are armored similarly to the head. A Gauss rifle will take any given limb off with a point to spare on the legs and three on the arms; an AC/20 dead center will kill it outright while an IHGR will punch through and clean out the rear armor for good measure. A mere point is on the rear sides, not enough to protect against an SRM or MG hit, let alone a fall. Only ten single heat sinks looks bad - and considering how close New Syrtis is to the Confederation, home to people who regard the Inferno as roughly equivalent to a greeting card in social terms, it is to some extent - but there's literally no room for DHS on here. All of this scrimping and tonnage must have gone to the weapons, right? Well, it did. The Federated LRM 10 with a single ton of ammunition matches the classic VLK-QA
Valkyrie's LRM load, while the other weapon can potentially match its medium laser at much longer ranges: A Mydron Excel 5SG LB 5-X autocannon, a fairly new weapon at the time. The lack of two tons of ammunition hobbles the flexibility of the autocannon, however. Personally, given the sheer utility of cluster rounds, I recommend sticking to those in most situations. Oddly, despite the fact that this is a thinly armored, poorly armed machine, it's also still pretty useful given the distinct encouragement MechWarriors receive to not get stupid thanks to their armor, the cluster ammo, and the way the low damage doesn't really encourage opponents to make it a priority most of the time.
The GRM-01B, the only variant mentioned in TRO3060, is a little better... sort of. While the original doesn't usually have overheating problems in standard conditions absent external thermal input or engine damage, the GRM-01B reminds me of the ENF-5D with its combination of an ERLL in place of the autocannon and the use of 12 single heat sinks. The other two tons were split, with one ton going to very necessary armor upgrades and the other to Artemis IV for the LRM launcher. Although thickening the armor out to the point that you can actually take an LL on the limbs, 12 points on the side torsos, or a whopping 14 on the CT was a huge improvement, I'm not so sure the Artemis was. Better endurance, certainly, although the heat load requires you to pick your shots with the ERLL.
In Record Sheets: Upgrades, the
Garm got a visit from the RAC fairy in the form of the GRM-01C. The armor was once again bumped, this time to a total of five tons, although the decision to armor the legs better than anything else at 12 points, with 11 on the CT, 9 on the arms and the side torsos that actually contain ammo, and the 8 point head, is a little wacky. The rear armor is finally vaguely approaching up to snuff at a 3/4/3 spread. The addition of CASE marks this as probably being a factory model, although it's possible it's merely a very intensive refit. The primary armament is without question the class 5 rotary autocannon in the right torso, fed by two tons of ammunition in the left torso right next to the ERML. Only ten SHS mean you can get more than a little toasty if you're jumping and firing on full auto but with this little ammo, you really shouldn't be doing that all that often. Stick to single shots unless you've got a wonderful opportunity, then sledgehammer someone. Overall, I'm really not that impressed. The original's reach and low damage output at least kept it at a safe distance and comfortably low on the threat meter while offering some options in the realms of vehicle harassment.
Designed by our very own ItsTehPope, the GRM-01A2 attempts to rectify some of the mess. Its success is... debatable, although it's admirable attempt in a lot of ways. His Urbieness started by departing from the established formula, using a 210-rated light fusion engine to push the speed up to 97 kph, while the armor is fractionally better than the original GRM-01A with 4 tons of light ferro-fibrous. A whole point better on the rear. The XL gyro was used to cram everything in - given the armor, that's a little alarming, but given that this is a light, you're not long for this world with an LFE once the armor is breached anyway. Okay, moving on! We've actually achieved double heat sinkdom, with 10 of them providing just enough cooling for everything. The weapons choices are a bit eccentric but suit the spirit of the times and I believe there was a requirement to use TW weaponry out but you'd have to ask Pope or one of the others for more commentary there. The LRMs are still in place, with CASE to minimize any “Whoopsies!” with the LRM ammunition, but the autocannon is now a plasma rifle, providing a great deal more menace to a wide array of unit types, albeit at the cost of encouraging you to get closer than perhaps is wise. I might have opted for another ton of armor instead of a second ton of ammo, too, and there's definite hints of Shiny Toy Syndrome here. Overall, it's not too bad despite the quirkiness and the limited ammo discourages MechWarriors from hanging around longer than the armor allows. It's also quite suitable as an urban harassment and skirmisher unit, peppering someone with indirect fire or laying minefields while using the plasma rifle to stab at vehicles or infantry formations from unexpected directions.
The original and the GRM-01B are without question snipers. I'm not going to mince words. If you bring one into close range willingly, you're doing it wrong. Quit screwing around and get back to medium range. Pepper someone with fire and use your speed to stay the hell out of arm's reach of heavies or slow mediums and hope nothing like a modern
Wolverine or
Uziel (or heaven help you, a
Falconer) takes exception to your harassment. On the 01C and 01A2, carefully pick your moment to close, doing your best to find a vulnerable flank. The 01A2, with its LRMs, can pick from some alternative munitions (T-Augs can be especially annoying in a city), and both will benefit from intelligent use of terrain and spotting information.
With most
Garms, a decent amount of fire will put the nuisance out of its misery, and at 5/8/5, the pre-Jihad models are on the low end of light 'Mech speed these days. For that matter, the GRM-01A2 isn't exactly fast at 6/9/6. My advice is against the first two, ram something decently armed down their throat if they're being annoying, tear them down, and move on. Other lights (especially something like one of the tougher
Jenners or even an
Owens) with a bit of firepower to their name and a lot of speed will have a field day, as will fast mediums. With the 1C and the 1A2, watch for backstabbing attempts, and the 1C's armor is thicker than the others, too, so dissuading it permanently takes a little more effort.
References: The
MUL is a good place to start looking over, offering BV2 and BattleForce statistics as well as availability data. CamoSpecs has a mixture of Federated Suns and mercenary
Garms on display.
