’Mech of the Week: MAL-** Mauler
The
Mauler. One of the most maligned BattleMechs in the game (at least at the gaming tables I’ve been at). In universe, this 90-tonner is not much better liked. My introduction to this design was rather pathetic. It was a Hunter type scenario, and I picked a
Berserker (the B model). My “target” was piloting a MAL-1R.
He proceeded to devastate me as I closed. While I did significant damage to him, he defeated me, and then proceeded to nearly eviscerate the last remaining opponent, a nearly untouched
Zeus.
The origins of the
Mauler reside within a think-tank project in 3036. Project: Daboku was a chaotic mix of ideas that eventually led to the model designated as the DCMS-MX90-D
Daboku (or
Brawler). Shoved into the hands of LAW based mostly on their work turning the
Charger into the
Hatamoto series, the resulting design was about what one expects from a rush job: a good idea on paper, not so good in execution.
Conceived as a ranged-combat design on par with the
Awesome (even down to a similar silhouette), the problems started with the allocation of only twelve single heat sinks to the design. Two Holly LRM-10 racks, twin large lasers, and four Class-2 autocannons provide the weapons fire. Unfortunately, each weapon seemed to have its own foibles from ammunition feed problems to a heat overload problem for the lasers. A standard engine was used, which seriously inhibited the amount of armor installed. The design mounts the same amount of armor as the GRF-1N
Griffin, about 54% of maximum. Allocation allows for a Gauss slug to the side torsos, two larges to the arms, a Class-20 to the legs, and just under four medium pulse lasers to the chest. Rear coverage can take a large to the center rear, and a medium to each side rear.
But the biggest problem (and the design’s claim to fame) is the installation of CASE in the side torsos. Not the installation itself, as much as that LAW’s engineers took the system from another machine (somewhere I read a
Crockett) and they didn’t retune the system. As such, a sharp blow to the nether regions of the center torso would cause the pilot to be violently ejected. Even if the auto-eject system were disabled.
Personally, I think I’d rather have that extra ton of armor.
After the catastrophe of the War of 3039 (at least for the
Daboku), the design was put on the shelf until late 3046 when Victory Armaments perfected their extended range large lasers. Looking for an easy platform to plug them into, LAW engineers dusted off the
Daboku. After a chance talk with an ISF case officer and LAW’s DCMS contact, the Davion codename for the chassis was adopted. Thus the MAL-1R
Mauler came to be.
Aside from the large lasers now being extended models, the LRM racks were upgraded to 15-shot versions, with two tons of ammunition tied to each. Two tons of ammunition feed the Class-2’s. One heat sink was removed, but those left were doubled, though this still leaves the design extremely heat sensitive. An extralight engine was used to free up some weight for additional armor, which was now ferro-fibrous and 73% of maximum. This now allows each front location to at least take a Class-20 shot, and rear locations can take a PPC blast. The CASE systems were eventually perfected, though some of the first few models still had that little “crotch shot” problem.
During the rash of C3 upgrades that hit the scene in the late 3050’s, the MAL-C appeared, replacing one ton of Class-2 ammo for a slave unit. The MAL-2R variant also hit the scene around that time. This model downgraded the LRM racks to 10-packs, with a ton of ammo each. The larges were each replaced with twin mediums. The Class-2’s were replaced with Ultra models (which weren’t perfected until about 3059), with the original two tons for all of them. One double was also added for heat dissipation.
Then in the 3060’s, the MAL-3R removes the Class-2’s and large lasers for twin Class-10 LB-X models, a small laser and a C3 Slave. One heat sink was removed, leaving ten. Finally, the armor was raised to maximum, with the center torso having almost double that of the
Daboku.
The final variant is the MAL-1K, which is a product of the Jihad (and some would say STS [shiny toy syndrome]). Armor is 80% of maximum, most of which appears to have been applied to the front torsos. Retaining the LRM-15’s, the design uses arm-mounted Snub-Nose PPCs, and Light Class-5 autocannons. Each autocannon has a ton of ammunition tied to it, though the bins are in the arms. The CASE has also been removed.
In the early days of the Jihad, an escaped prisoner somehow managed to get his hands on an experimental
Mauler. Designated the MAL-4X, and given the name “Todesbote” (loosely translated as “Death-Dealer”), there is no indication where it came from. Perhaps the WoBbles handed him it. Maybe he got it from a hidden Solaris bunker (close enough to the start of his rampage in the Free Worlds League). The design uses an endo-steel skeleton and the same extralight engine of the MAL-3R. Ten double-strength heat sinks so well enough with the heat output. Weapons consist of a 7-rack MML launcher in each side torso, fed by a single-ton center torso ammunition bin. Each arm mounts a Class-10 hyper-velocity autocannon, with two tons of ammunition stored beneath them. All the ammo bins are protected by CASE II, though frankly that is not much of a consolation. The design also mounts 77% of maximum protection in hardened armor (which does help a bit).
While not technically a variant of the
Mauler, Experimental Technical Readout: Kurita introduced us to an off-shoot called the BNZ-X
Banzai. Appearing in 3076, this design uses the MAL-1K as a basis. While the document seems to indicate that the MAL-1K had an endo-steel skeleton, the record sheet in 3050 Upgrade Unabridged does not show this. Anyway, the Banzai uses said endo-steel skeleton, upgrades the engine to a 360-rated extralight, and added MASC and a supercharger for obscene speeds for a 90-tonner. The chassis also carries maximum armor protection. Fifteen double heat sinks provide some heat dissipation for the Clantech extended small, twin large and twin medium pulse lasers, as well as the large vibroblade. Perhaps the most interesting part of the design is the booby trap which seems to be placed in the same space the old CASE problems originated from.
Apparently when the prototype participated in the assault on Dieron it did well enough that three more were commissioned. That said, since it appears that when a pilot decides to exit his machine under fire, the triggered trap unleashes an explosion of significant size. As such, I do not expect any of those three to have made it much past the Reclamation of Terra.
Using one depends on which variant you are using. With the
Daboku, your best bet might be to pray. Aside from that, my suggestion would be to use them as my friend did his. Stand back and let them come to you. Snipe from range until your opponent is stumbling and then finish him off. For those mounting autocannons, consider using precision ammo (or flak if you are in an anti-air role). Do watch your heat dial. Aside from the MAL-3R, all of them overheat, some to a massive degree.
(Didn’t someone say that the biggest problem with some designs was that the main guns overload the heat sinks and the secondary ones explode?)
If you happen to be piloting a
Banzai, you can consider using it like its namesake, and make a charge into the center of the enemy. While it is from the fluff, when you eject, or when you suffer catastrophic engine or cockpit damage, the booby trap explodes. I’m not sure what nine tons of said booby trap does, but apparently on Dieron it took out several Level II’s of Blakists (and a couple lances of friendlies).
Fighting one depends on what you have available. If you have lots of Gauss Rifles, stay at range and outlast him. If you have
Berserkers, hope you have the good models (the A and C), then head in until you can carve your name in his hide. With most of the
Mauler variants, their armor is lackluster, and their weaponry is considered sub-par. (Come to think of it, perhaps the
Mauler is the result of trying to do all three tasks at the same time…) Also most are heat-sensitive, so if you have plasma weapons, let ‘em rip. Against the
Banzai, hit him hard and try to keep out of his way (though I wonder what a Golden BB to that booby trap would do).
