’Mech of the Week: FLC-** Falcon
A relic of the Star League returned to the Inner Sphere in force by Wolf’s Dragoons, the thirty-ton
Falcon was one of the many mysteries surrounding that mercenary unit. Partly designed to fight the “barbarians who dared to threaten the unity of mankind,” this design was mostly used as a “Bug Killer.”
Kind of ironic naming a ’Mech after a bird and it ending up hunting
Stingers and
Locusts…
The
Falcon came about as a result of the holocaust that was the Reunification War. While the Great Houses had sizeable armies, they were designed to fight each other, not to function at the end of long supply lines against foes that did not fight “fair.” In 2582, the
Falcon was introduced into Lyran and Hegemony forces in an attempt to help deal with this issue.
Designated the FLC-4N, the design used easily manufactured components to create a machine that could hunt down the light ambushers that caused the Star League so much trouble. With the use of a 180-rated engine and as many jump jets as the
Wasp, the
Falcon could keep up with the iconic 20-tonners. Armor consists of six tons of standard plate, giving the design 91% of maximum. All front locations can withstand a large laser blast, with the legs and side torsos able to take slightly more than a Class-10 blast, and the center a little less than a Gauss slug. Rear locations can take a machine gun shot, with the center rear able to withstand a small laser. Firepower consists of a small laser in each arm and a medium in the right. Rear mounted machine guns were added to deal with the largest problem in the Reunification War: enemy infantry. The ton of machine gun ammo was placed in the center. (Which I normally would consider a problem, but as this is pre-CASE…) Twelve heat sinks are adequate to dissipate the heat load, since they are one more than needed to deal with a jumping alpha.
The original served well up until the Amaris Coup. After Aleksandr Kerensky conquered the Rim Worlds Republic, a Royal variant of the
Falcon was designed and rushed into production on the captured factory lines. The FLC-4Nb utilizes an endo-steel skeleton to free up some weight, which mostly went into the use of an experimental Snub-Nose PPC. The small lasers and machine guns were removed for a second medium laser, mounted in the other arm. Ten double heat sinks allow for a running alpha, but are overtasked by a full jumping alpha. A half-ton of armor was also shaved off, all from the front torsos and legs.
As the Liberation rushed to a close, the factory lines were shut down and the SLDF took the plans and all surviving examples with them on their Exodus. Cached during the drawdowns, when the Pentagon Civil War broke out those left on the five worlds fell into the hands of the rebels. Those on Strana Mechty mostly ended up with the Goliath Scorpions (and strangely not the Jade
Falcons).
The Pentagon forces unable to replicate the experimental tech of the Snubbie created two “variants” (more like field repairs). The first was the FLC-4Nb-PP, which dropped the Snubbie and the associated arm-mounted laser for a standard Particle Cannon. The other, the FLC-4Nb-PP2 replaces it with an extended range large laser. That variant also upgrades the left arm-mounted medium to a pulse. One other variant appeared during Operation: Klondike. Created by MechWarrior Saho Yeh of the Scorpions when his right arm weapons were savaged, he replaced them with a large pulse laser.
Probably retired early in the transition from Star League to Clan tech, the
Falcon’s next official appearance was when the Dragoons brought some FLC-4N models with them. (Though based on the Royal variant, I do wonder if the Clans didn’t decide to add five tons, Clantech it and call it a
Horned Owl.) When the Losttech revolution hit the scene, the Dragoons made a field upgrade to their
Falcons (which in 3060 was licensed to Blackwell as a production model). Designated the FLC-4P, this model drops one jump jet to upgrade the medium laser to a pulse version. The machine guns were removed and replaced with an anti-missile system.
Later during the Civil War era, the Dragoons helped create the FLC-5P model for general sale. This variant loses a full ton of armor, causing most locations to not be able to take a PPC blast. All weapons save the medium pulse were removed to install twin extended mediums. A light engine was used to free up the weight for this and the installation of a targeting computer.
The last variant, the FLC-6C, starts with the -4P model and starts by using Clan materials. The medium pulse was replaced with an extended range large laser, a targeting computer was installed, ten double heat sinks were used, and ferro-fibrous armor was used. Originally exclusive to the Dragoons, after the Scouring of Outreach, many ended up in the hands of the Blakists. That said, the plans could have gone with them, in which case new models may show up with the Kell Hounds and Exile Wolves.
Using one of these machines falls into certain standard roles. Primarily, think like a Stinger. Ambush your foes. Strike quickly, then get out. Aside from the -PP, -PP2 and -6C models, you don’t have long range firepower. Even with those, snipe and go. Your armor is decent on most models, but do remember that you are still a light machine. Above all, pick on foes your own size (or smaller). The
Falcon’s first claim to fame was as a “Bug Hunter”, so attacking things like
Stingers,
Wasps, or
Locusts is a good idea. Mind you, with some of the newer
Locusts you may find yourself with high to-hit numbers.
Fighting one is again the use of similar tactics for a bigger machine. Fight them like you would fight a
Stinger. Precision ammo is good. Targeting computers are better. And speed is great, if you can get it. Even a few
Cicada models can be useful against one of these. Alternatively, you can choose to shoot it with something big. And of course, if you have the opportunity to shoot him when he didn’t jump, do it.
