HMH-XX HammerhandsBackgroundThe Hammerhands (possibly named by someone who loved ancient Terran comics from the 1990’s) is a development of House Davion’s first ever Battlemech the Battleaxe. The Battleaxe was a heat intensive heavy Mech who when fully developed was a capable machine but one that suffered massive heat issues with its designers not realising how ferociously hot Mech’s ran in combat until it was too late.
Whilst the Battleaxe was far from ideal the Davion’s then looked at an upgraded version that would eventually become the Hammerhands.
The Hammerhands may have started off as a variant of the Battleaxe but what evolved was an entirely different beasty.
For one thing it was 5 tonnes heavier (at 75 tonnes) and featured all the advances of House Mech’s of the time, luxuries like a normal engine, cockpit and armour instead of the earlier prototype equipment. This all saved weight, and so the designers slapped more armour on the design, 11.5 tonnes of it vs the Battleaxe’s 9 tonnes.
This gave the Hammerhands a good solid slab of protection, especially for the time and even by today’s standards, it’s not bad.
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The big change though comes with the engine, whilst the Battleaxe could hit 64kph the Hammerhands can only hit 54kph which was the same speed as the Mackie that EVERYONE was using at the time. Still it did retain jump jets first used on the Battleaxe which is surprising as it was rare (and still kinda is) to see a 75 tonner that can jump.
This saved a LOT of weight and with the choice of main guns for the new machine it also started the Federated Sun’s century long, sordid, graphic, and very public love affair with autocannons that persists to this day (brazen hussy that they are!).
But despite the solid protection, the heavy fire power (as you’ll see) the Hammerhands was generally outclassed by later designs like the Warhammer and Marauder who could engage at longer ranges and didn’t have to worry about ammo supplies, as well as being faster. This lead to the Hammerhands getting a bad reputation as well as a fair bit of derision. There's also possibly legal shenanigans involved with the Warhammer just purely by chance happening to look like the Hammerhands as well as being built to fight it.
The Hammerhands soldiered on but was eventually replaced, decommissioned, scrapped and forgotten. Which is a terrible shame as it would have been a great 3025 era Mech as a pocket assault. Mainly because there was NOTHING advanced in its construction, everything was bog standard from the engine to the armour.
But this ancient design refused to stay dead and received a reprieve due to the sheer desperation of the Jihad where Davion designers began building the relic from the past once more, all be it upgrade and brought up to modern standards where it serves today.
Variants3D – The grand pappy of the family the 3D sets the tone for the Hammerhands and runs with it..well..walks briskly, with the occasional bunny hop. The centrepiece are the Mech’s pair of AC-10’s. For a simple machine like this, they are great, good range, good punch, and minimal heat. Lovely! And even better they didn’t scrimp on the ammo, 4 tonnes between the guns gives it good battlefield endurance, and lets you break out advanced ammo if you want to now. Supporting weapons are simple but effective. A pair of medium lasers, one in each arm alongside the autocannon provides additional punch whilst an SRM-6 can go crit seeking on foes weakened by the AC’s. And with 13 heatsinks you’re going to be hard pressed to overheat this machine.
Of course the big drawback is this things speed. At 56kph you’re not outrunning anything and everyone’s faster than you. This means the 3D is either going to have to wait for the fight to come to it, or try pinning a foe where they simply can’t run any more. Still it does have jump jets for 90 meter leaps so its not THAT sluggish. And it does in theory give you another weapon if someone gets within 90 meters of you.
4D – With the Battleaxe, House Davion found that some pilots simply could not get use to jump jets and so stripped them out and added guns. This is the same thing. Out go the jump jets as does the SRM-6 and its tonne of ammo and in go guns. Well…gun. There were already concerns about the Hammerhands being tied to a long logistics tail due to its ammo gobbling main guns. So the designers then went and slapped a PPC on the thing in a shoulder mounting where the SRM use to be. This gives the Mech a good long range weapon and, if you’re willing to risk the heat spike a brutal 30 point punch. Not bad for a machine built in the 2400’s. Of course the heat is the big problem, but it does give the Mech a weapon that can respond at longer ranges.
5D – More a proof of concept than anything that then entered production because a wild Jihad appeared the 5D was a modern look at the classic 3D. Curiously it retained the old AC-10’s but this wasn’t seen as a bad thing as it let them use advanced ammo (usually a 50/50 mix of standard and AP rounds). The medium lasers were upgraded to ER version and the SRM was stripped out.
The armour was upgraded to Ferro-fibrous weave with minor improvements on the chest (2 points on the CT, 1 on the left and right torso). The heatsinks were also improved, stripped out and then upgraded to double strength freezers, making it run very cool. In a curious move though the jump jets were upgraded to improved jump jets, allowing for 150 meter leaps instead of 90 meter hops. Finally the electronics were upgraded and featured a C3 slave. All in all this made for a solid and surprisingly mobile Mech.
6D – The Word is coming! The Word is coming! Built in the dark days of the Jihad the 6D is the most extensive and expensive refit of the Hammerhands. At the height of the Jihad these Mech’s were being sent into service as soon as they were built and formed a useful bulwark against the ravages of the Word of Blake.
Taking the 5D’s refit and running with it, the 6D retains the improved jump jets and 10 double heatsinks of the previous test bed but the musculature is upgraded to TSM which can push it up to 64kph when it gets hot. A note on that, you’ll have issues overheating this thing so you will have to turn off heatsinks and alpha like mad to get the TSM to wake up.
Unfortunately something had to go and in this case, it was armour, dropping the Ferro-fibrous plate of the 5D the 6D has slightly less protection on its arms and legs, but next to nothing on the back (2/3/2) making it achingly vulnerable to fast backstabbing Mech’s and god help it if is swarmed by battle armour as they will have no issue ripping through the tissue thin rear protection.
The old AC-10’s are gone and in their place are a pair of RAC-5’s but they are only fed by a single tonne of ammo a piece. The old medium lasers return to their place in the arms whilst the electronics get another upgrade. This time the Davion’s much loved targeting computer makes an appearance at the cost of the C3 slave. This combines to make the 6D a dangerous but also short lived threat. The RAC’s at full roar will eat through their ammo in the blink of an eye leaving you with just a pair of medium lasers. The pilot’s manual almost certainly reads FACE TOWARDS THE ENEMY on every page too as the achingly thin back armour is a huge liability.
6E – Whereas the 6D seems to be a OH GOD WE NEED MECHS NOW!!! Panic design the 6E is slightly more measured in its approach.
The biggest change is the ammo and joy of joys the Hammerhands now carries 6 tonnes of ammo for its RAC’s giving it more than a shrew’s heartbeat’s length of dakka dakka before running dry unlike the 6D. And someone had the smarts to put it in CASE. It retains the 6D’s armour layout and its achingly vulnerable back, but re-works the electronics AGAIN. Out goes the heavy targeting computer in go an ECM and the C3 slave comes back into play. The TSM’s still there and so are the standard medium lasers and you’re still going to have to juggle heatsinks being turned on and off but got battlefield endurance with its nice deep ammo bins rather than the half a teaspoon of ammo the 6D carried.
ThoughtsI like this Mech, I like the look, the simplicity of it and its solid firepower. Whilst it is a bit boring, it’s almost Thug (the Mech, not the actual thugs) like in its approach and I appreciate that. This Mech is built to walk forwards and go BOOM BOOM BOOM with its big bore AC’s or unleash a storm of BRRRRRRRRRT death from its RAC’s (well the 6E can, the 6D goes BRR…and then falls silent).
With the achingly slow speed you’re going to lose races to everyone but Annihilator’s and Urban Mech’s so what role does the Hammerhands suit? Urban defence where it can wait in a street and not worry about someone faster than them peppering them with LRMs, perhaps. How about as part of an Assault lance, it’s got the speed for one. Perhaps as a bodyguard for a command unit or LRM battery. Cavalry Mech it is not, but the variants with improved jump jets can be surprisingly mobile. Although derided in lore as the poor man’s Warhammer, I’d rather take one of these than the fragile heat hog that was the Warhammer.
Fighting one its a case of not getting close, indirect fire is always useful as the Hammer has no weapons capable of catching you doing so and with its 100 tonner speed, you can and will dictate the range of the engagement. With the upgrades of course you want to get behind them, a fast backstabber could potentially destroy one of the Hammer's RAC upgrades in a heartbeat and Solitaire pilots make happy and excited noises at the prospect of heavy large laser vs 2 points of armour.
Oh and one thing I do LOVE about this Mech. It's look.
And of course the Obligatory...
As always, thoughts, comments and even thrown fruit are welcome. And I always appreciate feedback on the writing style of my articles too.
