The Headhunter is designed to kill battlemech pilots making it a feared sight on the battlefield.
The core of the Headhunter is twin Arrow IV launchers backed by 6 tons of ammunition providing a means to deliver damage kilometers away. This baseline capability makes it useful on all battlefields even if it's relatively slow 3/5 movement leaves it unable to keep up with faster running battles. Depending on ammo loadout it can destroy airborne elements (with air defense arrows), fixed emplacements (with Fuel-air ammo or standard rounds), or mobile units can be targeted in conjunction with a TAG spotter and homing rounds.
The real surprise comes when it enters the battlefield and deploys twin cluster rounds in direct fire. No matter how fast, how heavily armored, or how stealthy a mech is, cluster rounds rain damage on a mech's head, likely killing the pilot after 4-5 hits. Even mechs with hardened armor and reinforced structure typically suffer pilot knockouts after 6 hits. For fast heavy mechs using TSM, twin Inferno-IV rounds can spike their heat into lethal territory while becoming greatly slowed.
Mechs that manage to close on the headhunter face another lethal surprise when it switches over to quad medium X-pulse lasers with a targeting computer. Using called shot[high] these again have a good chance of hitting the head. The odd choice of keeping the hands on an artillery mech becomes clear when the headhunter closes in and deals punch, again with a good chance of hitting the head. Note also that the combination of Arrow IV, lasers, and punches, defeats essentially all special armors and exploits the vulnerabilities of laser reflec.
Defensively, the Headhunter features 21.5 tons of armor with extra tonnage in it's 3rd leg. The tripod layout makes all of it's weapons effectively function on a turret, so it cannot be surprised and changes in direction are easier and faster than might be expected on such a lumbering mech. The ammunition for the Arrow-IVs is buried in the heavy armor of the legs, and hence unlikely to be triggered before the mech itself ceases to function. The light engine makes it capable of surviving loss of a side torso location while continuing fire from surviving weapons.
Headhunter Mech
Mass: 100 tons
Chassis: Standard Tripod
Power Plant: 300 Light
Cruising Speed: 32.4 kph
Maximum Speed: 54 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Standard
Armament:
4 Medium X-Pulse Laser
2 Arrow IV
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3145
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-F
Cost: 19,222,000 C-bills
Type: Headhunter
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Experimental)
Tonnage: 100
Battle Value: 2,199
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 11
Engine 300 Light 14.5
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 0
Double Heat Sink 10 [20] 0
Gyro 3
Tripod Cockpit 4
Armor Factor 344 21.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 31 47
Center Torso (rear) 15
R/L Torso 21 32
R/L Torso (rear) 10
R/L Arm 17 34
R/C/L Leg 21 40/41/40
Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
Arrow IV Cluster Ammo (5) LL 1 - 1.0
Arrow IV Fuel-Air Ammo (5) LL 1 - 1.0
Targeting Computer CT 2 - 2.0
Arrow IV RT 15 10 15.0
2 Medium X-Pulse Laser RT 2 6 4.0
Arrow IV LT 15 10 15.0
Medium X-Pulse Laser LT 1 6 2.0
Arrow IV Homing Ammo (10) CL 2 - 2.0
Arrow IV Inferno Ammo (5) RL 1 - 1.0
Arrow IV Cluster Ammo (5) RL 1 - 1.0
Medium X-Pulse Laser HD 1 6 2.0
This is an example of an IS-tech mech which seems fairly deadly to even advanced clan designs.
Variants
The primary means of variation is via ammo loadout. It's also possible to sacrifice an X-Pulse laser for a couple more tons of ammo or an Angel ECM.