Hey everybody, did the news get around
About a guy named Butcher Pete
Oh, Pete just flew into this town
And he’s choppin’ up all the women’s meat
History
The Hatchetman is a lot of firsts. It was the first sign of early cooperation between the Lyran Commonwealth and the Federated Suns, as it was produced and initially garrisoned in Lyran space but designed by the New Avalon Institute of Science and the enigmatic Dr B. Banzai. It was the first mech designed explicitly for melee combat, with a five ton hatchet as one of its primary weapon systems. (interestingly, as first published in 3025 it had five additional heat sinks and the 'hatchet' had no special rules, meaning it was a melee 'mech before there where rules for being a melee 'mech.) It was part of a batch of new mechs produced by the various houses before the recovery of the Gray Death Memory Core, making it a 'first in centuries' design, and it is the first Mech to make use of a full head ejection system. Eventually the design would be deployed on both sides of the Federated Commonwealth, find its way into DCMS service, and even end up being produced in Taurian space.
Butcher Pete’s got a long sharp knife
He starts choppin’ and don’t know when to stop
All you fellas gotta watch your wives
‘Cause Pete don’t care whose meat he chops
Base variant
A 45 ton medium, the Hatchetman makes use of a Chariot type II standard frame and is coated in six and a half tons of Durallex medium plate, which leaves it thinly armoured in more than a few places. A GM 180 engine provides power and a top speed a smidge below 65 Kph. Rounding out the base chassis is a set of Luxor 2/Q jump jets, providing 120 meters of jump distance. Weapons wise it has the eponymous hatchet in the right arm, a medium laser in each arm, and a class ten autocannon tucked snugly into the right torso. Two tons of ammo in the centre torso are designed for quick reloading just like the Enforcers clip fed system, but mean any ammunition brew up is going to cost you the Mech. An additional heatsink helps the mech run cool when firing its weapons.
Ever since Pete flew into town
He’s been havin’ a ball
Just cuttin’ and choppin’ for miles around
Single women, married women, old maids and all
Other variants
The hatchetman has seen a lot of tinkering over the years, with ten variants being listed right up to the dark ages.
HCT-5S : This is the lostech upgrade we where 'treated' to in 3050, and its, well, its a bit of a mess. An XL engine frees up space for weaponry upgrades: three medium pulse lasers replace the paired mediums, spread across each arm and the left torso. The autocannon is replaced with an LBX-10, and the armour is upgraded to 8.5 tons of ferro-fibrous, fixing one of the original complaints of the design. It loses a heatsink to these upgrades, and a ton of autocannon ammunition. Case has been added, which atleast means that if the ammo brews up you won't lose the whole machine.
The problems come when you try to use this big ol' pile of lemons. One ton of reloards for the LBX is punitive, and the pulses do no favours to your heat curve. In many ways its an even more extreme machine than the 3F, a dedicated mugger that simply cannot operate for too long from supply lines and has to keep a ready eye on both armour and heat. This is the last design to make use of single heat sinks: all future designs make use of double strength freezers.
HCT-5D and HCT-6D debuted in 3062, and both diverged from the 5S significantly. The 5D retains the XL engine and replaces all weapons (except the hatchet) with an ultra ten autocannon and an extended range medium laser. These weapons are linked to a targeting computer. This design screams 'Davion' at the top of its lungs, and is a nasty piece of work in any firefight. However, it is only protected by 7 tons of standard armour, combined with the XL engine, that means this design has a real glass jaw. It can dish it out, but just can't take it. The 6D is an almost complete rebuild: it has an endo steel frame and a XL 225 rated engine, propelling it to 86kph with 5 jump jets to lift it over obstacles. It pairs this with 9.5 tons of standard armour, making it one of the most heavily defended Hatchetmen. Its weaponry is also excellent: a devastating Rotary five autocannon, three extended range medium lasers (none interfering with the hatchet arm) and the classic hatchet itself. As the cherry on this Whipped Cream Sunday of Pain, it also mounts Guardian ECM. Faster, better armoured and better armed, this chassis really shows what you can do with advanced tech. Just watch your heat soak: ten heat sinks do not cover a full jumping alpha.
The HCT-5DD seems to be a bastard offspring of both the 5D and 6D, and tries to make the best of both designs. Built almost exactly the same as the 6D, the ultra ten of the 5D gives way to a rotary 2 autocannon, with the single ER medium laser retained. Both weapons are linked to a targeting computer, and the whole package is wrapped in ten tons of standard plate. The one chink in its armour is a lack of case: with two tons of rotary ammo, any ammunition explosion is going to leave the pilot rocketing clear of a nearly 7 million C-Bill cloud of debris. One benefit to the design is the heat curve: its almost impossible to get this baby hot. Spam the autocannon as much as you like.
The HCT-6S is Defiance industries take on an upgraded 5S, and is a very solid upgrade. For a start, it sidegrades the XL to a light, and reclaims tonnage from the medium pulses by upgrading them to ER mediums. The new engine comes with double heat sinks, and the LBX autocannon gains a much needed additional ton of ammo. Armour remains an acceptable 8.5 tons of ferro-fibrous. This is a solid upgrade, available during the civil war from 3064 onwards, and is a very capable brawler.
Across the border, Independence Weaponry in Combine space developed their own variant for the Samurai of the DCMS. Dropping the 'inelegant' hatchet for a sword, the HCT-5K also uses an XL engine to add weaponry. It has two medium pulses, an ER medium and an MRM 30. This design also has 9 tons of armour, and a C3 slave. As part of a C3 enabled lance this machine is a fearsome little spotter as it really, really wants to get close and give the rest of its lance the improved targeting data. Available from 3070 onwards, this design showcases that even when pandering to its Samurai, the Combine is eager to make use of the powerful C3 system.
On the other side of the 'sphere, House Marik was tinkering with captured 5S Hachetmen and produced the HCT-6M. The major changes to the design are the replacement of the LBX autocannon with a Heavy PPC, a beagle active probe and an additional heatsink. This is another difficult machine to use effectively: the pulse lasers and hatchet demand you close, while the heavy PPC would prefer you stand about 120 meters away. It seems to be more geared to offensive action than defensive action, rooting out hiding units then attacking at a range of its pilots choosing.
The HCT-7S is a Jihad design, mounting for weapons a MML 9 and two ER medium lasers. A hybrid of previous design ideas, it mounts a 225 light engine, ferro fibrous armour and uses standard structure. Guardian ECM helps it close and disrupt Blakist C3I networks when it gets to its target, and its getting there a bit faster than the base Hatchetman thanks to its larger engine. Three tons for the MML allow you to contribute meaningfully at most ranges, but is nasty up close, with the MML producing more damage than an LBX cluster shot at close range and almost the same amount at long range.
Finally we have the Dark Age Variants. The 7D is a bit of an enigma, as I have no data on it at all apart from that it uses armoured components, dropping weaponry to achieve this. Any further details are left to the imagination. The HCT-7R (R for Republic!) is a variant developed by the Republic after the Capellan Crusades. Another light engined 85km/h machine, it mounts jump jets for a 150 metre range leap and 8.5 tons of ferro-fibrous armour. It retains the hatchet, but also mounts a medium X-Pulse laser and six medium lasers in the left arm. This variant makes use of the Actuator Enhancement System, giving its arm weaponry superior accuracy comparable to a targeting computer, but affecting the melee weapon as well. This is a mean devil in a firefight.
Finally, we have two canon custom configurations, both used by Mech warrior Austin of the elite Fox Teeth. The 3039 3F variant mounts an experimental NAIS LBX autocannon, and three medium lasers all concentrated in the left arm. Quite why any future variant mounts a medium laser in with the hatchet after the deployment of this test bed is an enduring mystery. The upgraded variant is the Austin 5S, this is pretty much a Lyran 6S, again with all the ER mediums concentrated in the left arm.
Deployment and manufacturers
The Hatchetman has been used all over the Sphere and seemingly beyond, and is manufactured by every Great House except the Capellans after a certain point, with even the Republic of the Sphere getting in on the action. The profusion of variants and updates have kept this mech hacking away at its enemies right up until the Dark Ages, where it can still be found lurking in cities and woods, waiting to mug an unwary opponent.
Tactical and Strategic use
As you would guess from a jumping, melee armed machine, the Hatchetman is best used in the close confines of urban areas or broken terrain such as canyons or forests, where its lack of armour is offset by its manoeuvrability. Strategically, assigning this machine to urban garrisons is a smart plan, as its main gun generally requires ammunition and have small bins. The later variants, which pick up some more speed and have less of a glass jaw, can be used in more open environments as a more conventional medium trooper, but to get the best out of this 45 ton maniac, you want to be looking your enemy right in the cockpit before you smash it clean off.
Countermeasures
The best way to stop a Hatchetman is to get it out in the open and hammer it. Generally lightly armoured and with explosive internals somewhere, a good salvo can put one down if you are lucky. Advancing into a city in echelon, with units covering each others blind spots, is the best way to force a Hatchetman to either retire and find easier pickings, or go for a death-or-glory attack. Ironically, one good counter is your own, bigger, nastier melee mech. Send in a Nightsky or Axman to hunt it down, and turn the tables. Some of the larger scout hunters like the Wraith can also make short work of it thanks to its less than ideal armour load and comparatively low speed.
That Butcher Pete is a crazy man
Tries to chop down the wind and the rain
Just hacks on anything he can get
Say, turn this record over, you ain’t heard nothing yet!
Final thoughts
I've always loved melee mechs, the appeal of them is undeniable. But they are tricky beasts to use, none more so than the first melee mech. But if you are looking for something that is a lot of fun to harass an enemy with, threatening him with a bit of hatchet-to-face action, you can't go far wrong with a Hatchetman.
