The FafnirA faff – A hassle, or irritating thing to do.
Fafnir – A BIG problem if it’s at short range.
Background and designDefiance Industries, producers of some of the most famous Mech’s in history including the fearsome Atlas and Berserker; in the mid 3060’s were looking to build a Mech that would mount their latest weapon breakthrough with an eye to the Lyran market.
By using a larger number of superconductors and magnetic arrays they had developed a weapon that could accelerate a huge version of the gauss rifle’s round to fantastic speed. Whilst the weapon itself had drawbacks, the biggest being that the round lost velocity rapidly, along with the sheer size of the new ‘Heavy Gauss Rifle’ was just too promising to pass up.
What was needed was a chassis, and what emerged was a modern answer to close quarter killers like the King Crab or Demolisher tank.
At 100 tonnes the Mech was a pure assault Mech and with its 300 rated standard engine, it had traditional assault Mech speeds with a maximum of 56kph. But this machine was not built for speed, it was built for raw, throat ripping, chest crushing firepower. And here Defiance certainly hit the mark.
With a pair of the new ‘Thor’s Hammer’ Heavy Gauss Rifles the new Fafnir packed an obscene punch at shorter ranges, capable of crushing many Medium Mech’s with a single hit whilst flattening a heavy with two. The mass and size requirements of the new weapons had drawbacks though and limited its payload. It became focused on the Gauss rifles and using them.
To this end the Fafnir also featured 19.5 tonnes of armour draped over its endo-steel skeleton, rivalling the legendary protection of the Atlas laid out as follows;
9/32/46/32 (10/16/10)
34/34/42/42
And with its standard engine the Fafnir can be very hard to actually disable, but with the huge and volatile capacitor banks for the Heavy Gauss rifles a hit on the torso can cause a huge explosion which would gut the torso.
Marketed to the Lyrans when it was introduced it became an instant success with the Lyran state practically going “GIMME!!!!” whilst making grabby gestures or flinging C-bills at Defiance Industries and it started entering service in 3063.
Unfortunately the FedCom Civil War interrupted the wide scale distribution of this machine but it saw most service in units loyal to Archon Katrina Steiner. This saw the Mech remain a Steiner design after the two kingdom’s split and was used to replace older designs like the Banshee or Zeus in heavy assault Lances.
Nicknamed the ‘Mugger’ by Lyran pilots the Fafnir is almost a caricature of the Lyran military, big, slow but tough and very hard hitting.
VariantsFNR-5 – The first of the ‘Faff’s, the 5 sets the bar for the design and almost all its variants. Its whole aim in life is to get into short range of the Heavy Gauss rifles and then start snapping arms off or caving in torso’s. To fit two Heavy Gauss rifles though sacrifices had to be made and this is not a Mech that is in any way subtle. It’s a club, it’s a kick to the groin followed by a knee to the face. Its brutal and thuggish.
Supporting the Heavy Gauss as best they can are the 5’s few defensive weapons. A pair of ER medium lasers and a Medium pulse laser are joined by an ECM and that’s it. And whilst the Fafnir has 8 tonnes of ammo, that’s a mere 16 shots per Heavy Gauss. The bare minimum for a normal Gauss rifle and the shallow ammo bins tie the Mech to supply lines.
Still if it gets close and there’s a good gunner at the things helm, pray very hard and close your eyes.
5B – With the civil war raging and trade disrupted Defiance found that it could not produce enough Heavy Gauss rifles to keep up with demand and found themselves with Fafnir chassis but no primary weapons. A slightly ‘down market’ but less specialised version the 5B is more akin to normal assault Mech’s instead of the in your face punch of the 5.
To this end a pair of Gauss rifles are fitted whilst the laser battery is enhanced considerably. Now fitting three ER Mediums, along with the Medium pulse laser and finally an ER large whilst the Gauss rifles are fed by 2 tonnes of ammo each. This is very much a ‘standard’ assault Mech loadout in tune with designs like the Pillager. But, because of that, well it’s a bit boring. And its also a serious heat hog, although fitted with 14 double heatsinks (an improvement on the 5’s ten doubles) slapping the big red ‘go away’ button is not recommended. But then with no explosive ammo on-board you can be a bit more carefree with it.
5WB – When Hespereus II fell to the Word they go their cyerbernetic mittens on the Fafnir and decided that they REALLY hated tanks and infantry. In a heavy re-working of the weapons the Gauss rifles go away and in their place an unprecedented 4 Plasma rifles sit in their place, each gun fed by a ton of ammo. ‘Supporting’ them are the ER Mediums but that’s it. The ECM was also removed but a C3i was installed, as well as 22 double heatsinks to try manage the heat.
Still basically a Fafnir with the goal of getting close and kicking you in the teeth the WB lacks the immense crunch of the Gauss rifles, but can still deliver four 10 point punches at a decent range. Along with all the heat woes that getting slapped by plasma weapons bring with them for added shenanigans. This Mech does absolutely brutal things to tanks and infantry, and the C3i is a heaped spoonful of evil cinnamon on top of this scary cake.
6U – U for Ultra, yep, it’s a Steiner machine, did you really think they’d not put a big bore autocannon on it? Well this has two! Although arm mounted instead of buried in the chest. A pair of Ultra AC-20’s one in each arm deliver a terrifying short ranged punch that like the 5 can rip a Mech apart in the blink of an eye. There’s also a considerable battery of supporting weapons, in the form of 4 Light PPC’s letting the 6U tickle at range as it lumbers forwards. To fit all this the 6U had to have some considerable changes. A light engine is fitted along with light Ferro-Fibrous armour to save weight. Each cannon draws from 3 tonnes of ammo (6 in total) giving it adequate endurance but 12 double heatsinks mean you can only safely double tap the ultra’s as long as you fire nothing else.
Personally I’m torn between this and the 5. With the 6U you’re relying on luck when you double shot the ultra’s, but if you hit with all four shots that’s 80 points of damage vs 50 from the Heavy Gauss. And unlike the 5, the 6U can engage at long range, all be it to tickle and harass.
5X – A return to Heavy Gauss form the 5X takes features two of the new Improved Heavy Gauss rifles for gut punching, teeth kicking fun. Whilst slightly less damaging than the normal Heavy Gauss, the Improved models are more consistent in their damage and don’t suffer the nasty fall off of damage at range. Unfortunately, these new rifles are even heavier than the old ones and something had to go. So off goes the Medium pulse laser but the ECM remains as do the pair of ER medium lasers in the near vestigial arms. Six tonnes of ammo isn’t much considering the sheer size of the rounds, a mere 12 per gun in total, but heat’s not a problem.
Really this is like the ‘bands back together tour’ version of the 5. I’d say the 5X is superior just because of the more consistent damage of the I-Heavy Gauss, and sure you lose a medium pulse laser, but really if you’re relying on either the 5 or 5X’s secondary weapons for major damage then somethings gone horribly wrong.
5A ‘Peter’ – The ride of Archon Peter Steiner-Davion in the Civil War the 5A is a unique Fafnir and a very different one from preceding variants at that. Whilst armed with one Heavy Gauss rifle the rest of the weapons are stripped out for a pair of ER Large lasers and then a staggering 10 Rocket Laucher-10’s spread across the arms, torso and head. Whilst only one shot weapons, I think many pants would need changing if you saw 100 rockets come thundering towards you. Especially when their gunner is as good as Archon Peter was.
The other weapons would make a formidable assault Mech but it’s rare to say that the advanced Heavy Gauss rifle is actually overshadowed by the very basic rocket launchers. Oh and there’s a trio of medium pulse lasers for more close quarters nibbling. To fit all this, very little changes, whilst 13 double heatsinks are fitted there is also a ‘new’ compact gyro makes the 5A even harder to disable. The Guardian ECM is still there but it’s also joined by a C3 slave (odd considering that C3 seems to be rare in Lyran service) which also can allow you to pull off some nasty trick shots with the aid of a spotter.
This is a WEIRD Mech, what’s the main weapon? Sure its still basically a Faff and would be used like one, IE get in close and apply boot to groin but it’s got a sand blaster like nothing else save the Marauder II that is slathered in rocket launchers. A full salvo of rockets followed up by a Heavy gauss slug would probably spell the end of anything walking though.
ThoughtsTo paraphrase Eddy Izzard “Its all martial and no art.” The Fafnir is a VERY direct tool and save the 5B and 5WB it lives to get in your face and make life miserable and short. The 5B is very much a ‘bog standard’ assault, a dual gauss boat and it’s not that surprising or interesting, sure its good but it’s just a bit dull. The 5WB is also a bit odd, as I said it lacks the raw smackdown punch, but is also more flexible for it. And no one likes the potential of an extra 4D6 heat if all four Plasma’s hit. The others are all brutal short ranged beatsticks the 6U has the advantage of being able to shoot back at long range, but it’s still meant to get close and maul.
And yes you CAN use the Improved and Heavy Gauss rifles at long range, but with limited ammo and the normal Heavy Gauss’s damage drop off, you really don’t want to waste shots on trying to wallop someone at range unless you have really good numbers.
Fighting one is really a case of trying to stay out of range. The Fafnir is slow and has no indirect fire weapons and most of them are built to get close. Don’t let them. In a larger battle, take out its escorting friends and engage at long range if you can. If forced into a city fight against the Faff, well…assault Mech’s and luck are going to be needed. You fight a Fafnir at close range and you’re doing what its pilot wants you to do.
- Image used as the design layout for the Fafnir (probably)
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/images/d/dd/Fafnir.gif 
As always, thoughts and comments are most welcome!
