"We don't need no steenking badgers!"AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one is going to be long. You people owe me alcohol for this.
The Badger is an interesting idea- one of the earliest omni-vehicles we got to lay eyes upon, a great idea in theory, and one that just never really seems to have met the promise of the concept. Come to find, years later, that this was actually by design, more or less- the Badger, like other Wolf's Dragoons units like the Annihilator, is a 'dumbed down' version of a Clan vehicle, intentionally made to quietly fit into the tech level of the Inner Sphere at large so that no one realized just how advanced the Dragoons were able to really be. While this definitely makes for a less-than-stellar unit, there's still some intrigue to be found here. Let's give it a look.
The first thing to note is that Badgers didn't come from Clan space with the Dragoons- or at least, not many did. The vehicle was put into production on Outreach by Blackwell, as were so many other units, thanks to Dragoon assistance in expanding their operations. The results were obvious- Blackwell became an enormous and wealthy corporation, and the Dragoons got their very own supplier of whatever they needed right there at home. Great arrangement all the way up until late 3067. Badgers were produced by plans supplied by the Dragoons, and one can only imagine the Blackwell brass preferred to produce mysterious new vehicles for their partners than ask questions like 'where the hell did you get this, bro?'
Also important to note is that the Dragoons had retired the Badger from service shortly after the Clan invasion. It still served in rear-area and garrison roles, but few still operated in frontline operations due to the vehicle's severe limitations. However, this meant a huge number of second-hand Badgers were flooded onto the open market (along with, one would assume, new-construction Badgers as well), and snapped up by other merc commands wherever possible. Blackwell again found that they had new customers to service with spare parts and the like, and all was quite happy for them in that regard. It's possible that even in the post-Jihad and into the Dark Age eras, there may still be a few tired old Badgers soldiering on nearly a century after being retired from Dragoon service, and decades after their factory ceased to exist.
We'll start with the usual engine check. Popping open the access hatch, we find a fusion engine- a surprise for a vehicle of its day, debuting as it did (as far as the Inner Sphere knew) in the late Succession Wars. But, why a small infantry transport has a fusion power plant is hardly the biggest question surrounding the Dragoons of the day. The 180-rated engine gives the 30-ton vee a 6/9 movement profile, which is pretty solid when you get right down to it. If you need to move infantry around in a hurry but don't want to risk VTOLs, a Badger is a pretty great option, particularly in jumbled terrain.
The armor is... look, on 30 tons what are you looking for, really? We'll give the AC-20 test a week off for maintenance here and just be honest- a smack from that gun would pretty much end a Badger, for the most part. The nose can take it- but it takes ever scrap of plating to do the job, 20 points of armor there. The sides get 18, the rear 16, and the small turret gets 8 more points. It is, of course, standard plating- ferro would help a ton here, but of course the attempt to fit in with the tech of the day precluded fancy armor types like that. As an infantry transport, the Badger is fine- it will hold out small arms fire with ease, and even modest Mech-scale weapons will be stymied a couple of times. By the time that all adds up, hopefully the Badger's troops are unloaded and it can escape behind the cover of the infantry's attacks.
EDIT: Apparently the Fanpro version of TRO:3058U and the Catalyst version have minor differences. The above is based on the Fanpro version (which is what I own), the Catalyst version drops the turret weight to half a ton and increases the amount of armor by half a ton instead, with all of that total being added to the turret. Curiously, while half a ton of plating should add eight points, the total jumps from eight points in the turret to eighteen. Why this is the case, why the change was made to begin with, I have no idea. I was unaware this change had happened- both my hard copy and PDF show the Fanpro version of things. I apologize for the error.SECOND EDIT: Discrepency solved, the rear is shaved by two points from 16 to 14 points, solving where the phantom two points in the turret came from. Still no reason for that to happen- honestly, I'd rather keep it as it was, since 16 points will keep a Gauss slug out. But, apparently that's the reasoning. The record sheet I was looking at still had 16 points back there despite the turret being beefed up, no idea why it has that. Apologies, and hopefully the Bandit gives me a lot less of a tough time than this. Who knew a subpar APC could be such a pain in the ass?Before we get to weapons, a note on cargo space. The Badger has five tons of pod space, but has four tons in addition set aside as an infantry bay. That is, the bay is hard-wired as such and cannot be changed (like the lasers in the torso of an Avatar Mech). This is very unfortunate- being able to change that out for more weapon space for some jobs would be very handy. But, it's worth remembering two things about this: first, that every configuration listed below always has this cargo space in addition to the weapons listed, and second, that it's a four ton bay- perfect for transporting a squad of battle armor (for Inner Sphere powers interested in doing so!). That it cannot carry five troopers is probably a key reason the Badger was retired by the Dragoons.
The Prime uses the five tons of space and the fusion power plant's heat sinks to full use- three medium lasers in the turret provide a respectable punch, while an SRM-2 forward doesn't add a great deal of power, but does add abilities like the use of smoke or incendiary rounds. This is by far and away the author's preferred Badger configuration for most jobs, and unless the job is unusual in nature it's hard to think of a reason to ever use one of the others. Power and versatility- what more can you want?
Configuration A starts with keeping the SRM rack forward, but exchanges the lasers for three more SRM-2s in their place in the turret (so three SRM-2s in the turret, one up front). This is a wise move, rather than going to an SRM-6, because it means sharing the same SRM ammo bin as the forward mount- there's no room to switch to a different size of SRM. Handy if you really want to double down on SRM-spam, but the lasers of the Prime were far more useful to the author than added SRMs unless you're using flechette rounds to get rid of enemy infantry.
B config gets going with a similiar concept- SRM spam. This time it's a four-rack of SRMs in the turret and another up front, sharing one ton of ammo. If you liked the A, you'll probably like the B... a little less, now that there's only four missiles in the turret rather than six. Same idea though- if you want SRMs, have fun with this. (Side note: In testing, this config at one point died when it was hit directly by an area-effect Arrow IV round. The author nearly dropped his laptop laughing at this.)
The C configuration is set up much the same as the B, but in place of the SRM-4s we get LRM-5s to give the Badger long-range firepower for the first time. This is great- you have the ability now to lob LRMs at someone while unloading the troops, hitting them at ranges where they may struggle to effectively respond and even giving it the ability to fire indirect rounds. One launcher is up front, the other in the turret. This is a pretty good vehicle- maybe alone a pair of LRM-5 racks is ignorable, but several Badgers together can lay down a pretty nasty bombardment.
D is the last of the early-days configurations, and returns to the approach of the Prime with the three medium lasers in the turret. The SRM rack is gone now though, replaced by a small laser in each side. An extra heat sink had to be added to compensate for this. I didn't like this as much as the Prime- the lasers' range is just so short that their usefulness is very limited. The similarities to the Galleon are hard to overlook though- small lasers on each side, similar movement, even the look is pretty similar. Of course, where the Galleon had one medium laser in the turret, the Badger gets three.
Last of the early configurations, the E takes the D's small laser approach and runs wild with it, mounting them EVERYWHERE. Six small lasers in the turret, and one more in each body facing. Wow. If you expect close-fighting, this is pretty cool. If you plan on any other battle- like most Battletech games- this is a bad idea. I don't recommend this configuration... however, the author will note with a wink that this variant inspired the layout of the Shoden (LBX) years later (from a design perspective, not in-universe).
An advanced-tech upgrade, the F is intended to carry more cargo than its predecessors. With 3.5 more tons of cargo space, the weaponry is reduced to an ER medium laser and an ER small, both in the turret. ARGH. That ER small adds nothing to the config, but losing it for another half-ton of cargo means two squads of battle armor on board! You stupid Dragoons, no wonder Waco got the drop on you with thinking like this! If you need to move cargo above combat capabilities, obviously this is the Badger to use, but it's a wasted opportunity.
Configuration G returns to the Prime's layout, with the familiar SRM-2 up front. The turret now has a single light PPC. The author prefers the lasers of the Prime, but the extra range here can be useful in a more open-terrain battlefield. As an Omni, you have the opportunity to plan ahead properly, so keep this in mind for your Badgers when the situation calls for range over punch.
OK... so that's the Badger, there's nothing more to- oh god, the Clan version. Yes, the Clan model is being covered as well! The vehicle is mostly identical with two small differences- the pod space is reduced to four tons to gain a ton to the infantry bay (hello Elemental points!), and CASE is included in the body at no cost. Otherwise, armor and speed and such are all identical. One can expect the Dragoons' post-Invasion Badgers to likely use these configs, along with any that you might see for some reason in actual Clan second-line units.
The Prime here has an ER medium laser in the turret, and of course the virtues of that weapon in Clan hands have been sung for years with good reason. Mounted with it is a Streak SRM-4, a nasty weapon in its own right. This is a great combo, and combined with the battle armor in its bay the Badger-C Prime is a deadly unit indeed, able to attack at decent range with a surprisingly ferocious punch.
Config A is intended to mow down infantry, a job that curiously no Inner Sphere version excels at outside of flechette-armed SRMs. Here, three ER small lasers in provide the punch, backed by a six-pack of machine guns (fed by a full ton of ammo), all in the turret. Your infantry sucks and it just went away forever. This version of course predates MG arrays, but one can't help but mentally add that feature here for Jihad-era vehicles using this config. When you remember that this is an infantry transport, and thus likely to deal with enemy infantry as it unloads, this is a remarkably handy thing to have around, and is highly recommended.
The B feels similar to the Prime in most respects. The missile rack is downgraded to a Streak SRM-2, but the laser becomes a pulse model. That's not a bad tradeoff- while losing the punch of that SRM rack hurts a bit, gaining that accuracy for the pulse laser is great if the enemy is fielding fast units to try to hold off your infantry drop-off, and the loss of range is negligible on the Clan model anyway. Very good unit here, probably my favorite of the Clan versions.
C config (That makes it a Badger-C C!) tries to emulate the IS-model's C config. To do that, it mounts a single LRM-10, but of course being the Clan model it weighs considerably less than the two LRM-5s its doppelganger used. One ton of ammo supplies the turret-mounted launcher, and it even gets an ER small laser mounted to assist in close-defense. While it won't be able to stay in the field for a long time before running low on ammo, that's not a bad bombardment to support the Elementals with- and with Clan combat being what it is, by the time the ammo bin runs dry the fight is likely over anyway. Give this a thought, for sure.
Configuration D is simple- a Streak SRM-6 in the turret, fed by a ton of ammo. Nothing more, nothing less. With Streaks being as efficient and powerful as they are, this is a nasty unit, but the author preferred the Prime, giving up two missiles for the punch of the laser. If you'd rather have a couple more chances instead to find crits on the target though, this isn't bad at all.
E is laid out much like the C, but uses an ATM-3 in place of the LRM rack. The lighter launcher allows a second ton of ammo to be carried, giving the flexibility that weapon relies on to be useful. The ER small laser remains unchanged. While this is pretty handy, you're probably better off with the C, to be honest. With Clan LRMs having no minimum range, the C gives you better long-range punch and no loss of power at short range. This is useable, but not nearly as handy as others.
The A's anti-infantry version is revived by the F, with four AP Gauss Rifles (and a couple of tons of ammo) stuffed in the turret. Enemy infantry wither away as you approach, but of course any armored units will shrug off the attacks, so this is best utilized with other configs to cover it. The range advantages over the A's MGs make this a superior version overall if the APGRs are available to use.
Surprisingly, there's even an H configuration! Based on the B, the pulse laser was removed for a single heavy medium laser, with the Streak SRM-2 remaining unchanged. The lighter laser allowed for installation of a targeting computer to compensate for the inaccuracy of the new gun. If you need punch over other considerations this is handy, but of course the pulse laser of the B is probably preferable in most situations. (Of note, in testing one of these scored a lucky kill on a Zeus, hitting an ammo bin with a lucky laser hit. That tank crew never buys drinks again.)
*whew*
OK, so that's a lot to cover, and if your eyes are rolling into the back of your head by now imagine how it feels writing all this! And guess what, we'll be doing it again next week because we'll be covering the Bandit! AUGH! The things I do for you people. Anyway, usual- give me what you'd do with that small amount of pod space given the chance, stories of use, etc., and be back here for the Bandit next week.
