Vehicle of the Week: Gossamer VTOLYeah, I know, it's been a while. We're not strictly off hiatus but here's one of my contributions to the TRO3145 Mercenaries preview, the Gossamer! (The other contribution will be the
Hound on the 26th.)
The Gossamer, a Snow Raven VTOL referring to a light sort of fabric or spider silk, is perhaps slighty misnamed. As VTOLs go, the design is relatively hardy and on the heavy side. Intended as a fast response unit piloted by freebirths and
solahma, it frequently finds itself stationed on worlds to defend them against pirate raids where full DropShip support isn't available. That's a theory we've heard before and it doesn't really work that well on a large scale. While the design is faster than the Trireme, the flight time means that 'rapid' is only within a fairly limited area. Even going all-out, a Gossamer will top out at under 240 kph, making their ability to respond rapid compared to most ground units but really poor on a continental scale if your opponent has access to DropShips of their own. Pirates usually do, so you need ASFs to keep them on the ground or you need to base the Gossamers near targets of real interest. Strategic oddities aside, the Gossamer has been exported to multiple factions through the Sea Foxes since it was introduced in 3123, including but not necessarily limited to the Republic, the Lyrans, and the Free Worlds League. The Nova Cats had several on hand when they rebelled against the Combine, as well. About the only faction we can guarantee doesn't use them at this point is the Combine, which the Foxes were forbidden to sell them to. The Ravens also use the VTOLs as scouts and fast attack units when they go pirate hunting. Visually, the design is striking and more than a little unconventional with a center-mounted fan instead of the normal top-mounted rotors but the execution of the artwork is superb, one of the hallmarks of TRO3145.
As I noted before, the Gossamer is on the heavy end for a combat VTOL at 25 tons. With a pure Clantech design, the unit has plenty of potential, starting with the cost conscious decision to use a Consolidated 135 fusion engine that gives a 183 kph flank speed and complete freedom from refueling in any meaningful sense. (While they'll eventually need some more hydrogen, the game doesn't track this for ground units or prop-driven fixed-wing SVs because the requirement is effectively a maintenance task, not the same sort of frequent necessity like refueling would be for an ICE.) Three tons of Compound FM3 ferro-fibrous arranged 23/16/10/2 makes the Gossamer annoyingly hard to shoot down when you combine it with the VTOL's high speed. It's not impossible to score a single-shot kill if you hit it hard enough (aside from the front, where there aren't ground weapons around that deal enough damage to a single location to blow it away in one hit, although an HGR at short range will leave one point of structure behind), but that kind of armor is fairly high for a VTOL, and movement modifiers that will routinely be in the +4 range or higher make flak weaponry or pulse lasers necessary for reliably tagging these fast, nimble predators. Speaking of pulse lasers, a trio of Series 14a MPLs uses the engine's free heat sinks and then some, giving the Gossamer a nasty bite at medium ranges and making it a lethally effective hunter of light 'Mechs. Even larger 'Mechs aren't going to enjoy being harried by that kind of laser fire.
The only variant known is a Raven Alliance exclusive that trades the weapons and engine for an XLFE of the same size and an LB 10-X with a single ton of ammo. The TRO theorizes that this variant is intended as a VTOL hunter and personally, I don't see any other reason to use that particular weapon here other than going after vehicles. If you want longer ranged firepower, a Clan large laser of either the ER or pulse variety would be more effective, meaning the cluster ammo is probably what the designer was thinking of. Against VTOLs, the accuracy of LB-X cluster is handy and the way the pellets can rack up motive or rotor hits will slow them down for other units (such as standard Gossamers) to make the kill with less accurate but more focused weapons. You can also use them to provide some crit-seeking to the fast-moving Gossamer Stars.
Operating Gossamers requires you to remember that while this is a relatively tough VTOL, your primary defense is not getting hit, so don't slow down. Dash into range, spray someone with lasers, and then blast past them so you can turn around and do it again. Don't be afraid to risk a sideslip if you're not at nap-of-the-earth heights, either, and you need to make a tight turn - if you can't hit anything, sideslipping is a lot less dangerous than it is for hovers. If an enemy demonstrates they have flak weapons, you probably don't want to leave them around - hit them from behind and try to take them out fast. The Republic lost a flight of these charging straight into massed defenses - don't do that. Hit someone's flanks and eat their scouts alive, don't try to go toe to toe with the big boys unless you can isolate them.
Countering Gossamers requires hitting them. The best way to accomplish that is with flak weapons, pulse lasers, or targeting computers; I recommend LB-X cluster ammo, HAGs, or an SB Gauss, personally. The cluster effect will hopefully slow them down so you can bring them down faster. One suggestion from
Paul was to try a DFA attack. I'm a little more uncertain but he has a point that it's got a good chance of taking one right out of the air and getting their altitude out of the equation.
References: Right now, the MUL doesn't have the TRO3145 units up yet and we're
well inside Sarna's moratorium, let alone IWM's production cycle, so there aren't any references. Instead, I'll just
link to the artwork directly.
