The Carronade is a 70 ton ’Mech from the StarCorps stable, first fielded by Duchy of Oriente forces and then spreading throughout the Free Worlds states, mercenaries and even Solaris VII gladiators. Appearing in the FWL version of the 3145 Technical Readouts, the Carronade is thus a very new addition to the purple peoples' arsenal.
Starting with a little design background first: the initial project notes for what eventually became the Carronade simply read "High-End Heavy Trooper Mech", with a requested mass of 70 tons. For me, a trooper ’Mech needs to have reasonable mobility, be able to take a decent amount of damage, and should avoid the more esoteric equipment options. A trooper is the unit that fills the ranks of your regular line regiments, so nothing fancy is needed, just a solid performer that can adapt to a variety of foes.
Within those parameters, the "high-end" requirement means that cost doesn't need be a concern, so there's little in the way of standard equipment used in the Carronade. For the basic framework of the design, the endosteel and XL engine wouldn't have been amiss on a SLDF design. Personally, I've always been nervous about XL engines, particularly in ’Mechs meant to stand and both take and deal out punishment, but as we'll see the mass is needed for the heavy armament and thus it couldn't be avoided.
With twenty critical slots already claimed between the engine and structure, no more could be spared for the armor, thus the Carronade is fitted with plain old vanilla standard plating. The thirteen and a half tons of armor provides near maximum protection, just one point short of what the 70 ton structure can bear. The actual armor placement is thus somewhat easy given that all but one location is at maximum value, although the balance between the front and rear of the torso sections is typically where players will have their own opinions. In the case of the Carronade there's a mix of aesthetics and functionality.
The front right and left torso armor values match the arm protection,allowing all four locations to take an Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle hit without penetration. As a signature Lyran weapon, which is no longer counted as experimental, that would likely likely be an in-universe benchmark for a FWL design. That leaves just eight points apiece for the rear side torsos, which is shy of the anti-PPC or twin medium laser capacity I would prefer given my druthers, but the ability to defeat a single large laser hit is still nothing to be sneered at. In the case of the center torso, with the rear armor PPC resitant, that dictates the protection afforded to the front; which just happens to come out as exactly 50% stronger than the sides.
With the engine, skeleton and armor out of the way, that leaves 45 tons for the remaining equipment and weaponry. An XL gyro could have freed up more mass, but that's something I really don't like to see in a frontline combatant. The relative vulnerability of the engine also discourages the use of a compact or heavy duty gyro in my opinion. Why bother spending mass to make the gyro more resistant if the engine already presents a large potential weakness? Another weight saver, the small cockpit, which imposes a Piloting penalty, wouldn't have fit the trooper theme, in my opinion, so there's little scope to increase the combat payload. With those last structural requirements out of the way, that meant that more than half the Carronade's mass is available for the important parts: the things that go boom, boom, pew, pew.
The choice of the main armament was influenced by an old board discussion about the Lyran's Gürteltier and how to kill or cripple one, which seems a reasonable goal for a FWL designed ’Mech. Being on the slow side, the Carronade would have to rely upon strong ranged firepower. The need for a long range crit seeker for mobility crits combined with a heavy hitter to punch through the Gürteltier's thick plating neatly matched a Gauss Rifle and Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle combo. With such low heat main weapons, there would be no need to divert any mass to extra heat sinks, which was a good thing once the bare minimum ammo load was added to the rifles themselves. Sixteen shots apiece is the typical standard most players set for their Gauss Rifles and it's enough to last most scenarios.
Unfortunately, dedicating so much mass to the two Gauss Rifles was that it left the Carronade all but defenseless once the ammo is gone, and I've taken part in enough campaign games that I do have a strong aversion to such ammunition reliant designs, particularly for the main troopers. Sadly, there's no energy weapon equivalent to the Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle, so that was a given, and the alternatives to the standard Gauss Rifle had their own issues. One possibility would have been a Heavy PPC, but that means giving up too much range. An ER PPC would have kept the range but lost the headcapping capability, although that could be retained through the use of a PPC capacitor, albeit with a slower rate of fire. The ER PPC option is very tempting, but in the end it would also harm the character of the design, in my opinion. The Free Worlds League has long been seen as the Light Gauss Rifle state, and the use of a Gauss Rifle and Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle is an intentional counter to that perception. Of course, twin standard Gauss Rifles would also be an option, but that design theme is so overdone, at least in the custom game.
With so little mass remaining, the Carronade's final form is beginning to take shape. The mixture of XL engine and exploding Gauss Rifles strongly suggested the usage of CASE II, which also helps stamp this as a more modern design. This is perhaps a controversial feature given that Gauss Rifle explosions aren't as bad as ammunition explosions, and some would no doubt prefer more guns or Gauss ammo. Arguments can be given in favor of all the options, so it really comes down to personal preference.
Thanks to the cool-running nature of Gauss weaponry, there was no need for extra heat sinks, so the last three tons could be spent on secondary armament. Some might like to have seen C3 installed, but that doesn't feel very FWL-ish to me, while ECM or a Probe would have left an uncomfortable one and a half tons, and doesn't seem suited to a trooper. Some form of anti-infantry weaponry would have been nice but it would have left the backup firepower too weak for my tastes, so the last tons were spent on a trio of ER Medium Lasers. Even a full running alpha won't overheat the Carronade without engine damage, so the extra range of the ER lasers over the standard model comes with little cost.
Using the Carronade is simple: it's for those guys in ranks with the sleepy look - the executioners. The mobility matches that of many other heavies and a fair number of assaults, so it's not going to dance around the foe. It's swift enough to get the job done, no more, no less. Able to walk fast enough to achieve a +1 Target Movement Modifier, or to run for +2, with either movement mode having a little slack for terrain, the Carronade relies mostly upon its armor to stay alive. That and killing the enemy quicker than the enemy can kill it. Luckily, blowing stuff up at range is the Carronade's strength. Of course, you don't need to sit at the back and just snipe, as long range weaponry sometimes allows you to exploit range band gaps, so that you get to shoot at medium range, for example, while the foe can only just reach you if they have shorter ranged armament.
The Carronade is geared for killing big targets: other ’Mechs, armored vehicles and even enemy air support. Some designs are good at punching holes, others are good at exploiting those weaknesses. The Carronade can do both. In addition, the Silver Bullet Gauss Rifle is as adept at bringing down hostile fighters and VTOLs as it is at crippling tanks or seeking out cracks in a ’Mech's armor. Furthermore, even with an average cluster roll, it can hit with enough pellets that when Gauss weapons strike, the Carronade can force an enemy MechWarrior to make a Piloting check. The Gauss Rifle can also headcap unless the target has installed one of the design options to protect the cockpit from such unpleasantness. At closer ranges, the lasers are just cream on top, as well as giving a token backup for when the last Gauss shell is fired.
If you're using the optional battle armor critical rules from A Time Of War Companion, then the Silver Bullet can make for a decent anti-battlesuit weapon, potentially crippling multiple suits with a single shot, if you get lucky. Of course, the normal Gauss Rifle is going to one-shot kill any heavy-class or smaller battle armor, and will do the same to many assault suits too, so there's always the less subtle approach to removing pesky battle armor from your Carronade's path. There is the problem of the main guns only having sixteen shots apiece, so you can't really afford to go battlesuit hunting, it's more of an option if you find yourself with a shot you simply can't afford not to take.
Conventional infantry are going to find themselves even better off than their armored brethren when facing a Carronade. The complete lack of anti-personnel armament makes the ’Mech quite vulnerable in close quarters and it really will need friends to help it out. My advice, unless operating with something like a Firestarter or your own infantry, a Carronade should really go looking for trouble outside of cities and other such natural PBI territory.
Personally, I'd favor partnering the Carronade with ’Mechs like the Black Knight BLK-NT-3B, which has Inner Sphere General availability in the current era. A pure energy boat, with anti-personnel weaponry, it helps cover the Carronade's weaknesses, while the Carronade provides a little more bite than the Black Knight. With a pair of Carronades supported by a Black Knight, you'd have the core of a powerful heavy lance that could be completed by indirect fire support from an Archer-4M or Pandarus, or perhaps a more mobile partner in the form of a Wraith-TR2 or Ostsol-9M.
The 1799 BV cost makes the Carronade a little expensive to field compared to some other 70 tonners, so depending upon your BV limit you might have to make sacrifices elsewhere. If the in-universe cost is of more concern to you, then the C-bill price tag is also higher than many other heavies, but then again the Carronade is meant to be a high-end design despite its relative simplicity.
On a closing note, I know that some players commented that they would have preferred the name to be used on a shorter-ranged design to better suit the historical carronade. All I can say is that the name was too good not to use, and at least the mix of Gauss Rifles matches the shot and grape combo of the old weapon.