Thor Armored Combat Vehicle
Mass: 55 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-E-D-A
Production Year: 2998
Cost: 848,938 C-Bills
Battle Value: 691
Power Plant: Maybach 200 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 43.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64.8 km/h
Armor: ArcPlate Type M Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Autocannon/20
2 Spandau MG29 Machine Guns
Manufacturer: Daimler ArmorWerks
Primary Factory: Stampfer
Communications System: Dracy Trumpeter
Targeting and Tracking System: Dracy TargeTrac
Overview:
The resurrected Thor Urban Ccombat Vehicle represents a stopgap measure of
sorts. When the Thor was first introduced before the outbreak of the First
Succession War, it represented a highly capable mobile artillery vehicle that
was less expensive than a Long Tom battery. However, the very efficacy of the
vehicle also made it a primary target on the battlefield. By the end of the
Second Succession War all that was left was the wrecked, scavenged hulks of
numerous Thors, the crew saved by the ammunition blowing out through the fusion
powerplant. As all of the fusion powerplants in production were needed for new
'Mech production, it was felt that the best thing to do was to scavenge what
was savable form the wrecked Thors and put the weapons to better use elsewhere.
By 2998, the need for a cost-effective combat vehicle was being felt in the
Lyran Commonwealth. A request for design proposals was issued, and several
responses were recieved. One was from Daimler MotorWerks, where the engineers
had been working on ways to make use of the discarded Thor frame by
retrofitting them with ICE powerplants and heavy autocannons. The Lyran
generals liked what they saw, but the limitations of the stopgap nature of the
design led the generals to institute the program that eventually led to more
modern tanks.
Capabilities:
The Thor Urban Combat Vehicle was designed around the frame of the old Thor
artillery vehicle. The Thors had been disabled when their ammunition supply
blew out through their fusion powerplants. Daimler engineers were able to put
the large amount of space to good use in fitting new powerplants in the place of
the somewhat more massive ICE one. In this case, engineers were able to put
a Maybach 200 model and fuel supply as part of the enginemount. Using a
redesigned armor placement as part of the chassis, the enginemount, and
replacing the devastated rear armor at the same time. While it does not fully
protect the powerplant from side hits, it does keep rear hits from anything less
than a superheavy cannon from being immediately disabling. The nature of the
ICE powerplant has limited the top speed of the Thor to under 65 kph, though
in an urban environment this is not the problem it usually is on open ground.
Around the powerplant, the design has armored fuel tanks as well as as an
armored partition that provides some extra protection between the fuel and
the crew compartment.
The less-massive nature of the new main weapon enabled the Daimler engineers
to turn the front mount into a full turret, giving the new Defiance 'Mech
Hunter autocannon a nearly full range of rotation, with mechanical stops to
protect the overhead defensive turret. The weapon is well-supplied with 4 tons
of autocannon ammunition, which should be sufficient for most missions.
However, in the effort to fit the autocannon turret into the space of the old
artillery piece the engineers were not able to use a sturdy-enough turret
traverse bearing because of conflicts between the new turret and the armor
partition. The bearing they were able to fit into the space could deform and
fail if the weapon is traversed over 20 degrees per second. This repair is
not something that can be accomplished in the field, and requires a full
vehicle repair facility.
Backing up the main weapon are two Spandau MG29 machineguns in the old
secondary turret. While the light weapons pose little threat to anything
heavier than a light armored vehicle, they are deadly against unarmored
infantry trying to close on the tank with satchel charges. The Daimler engineers were
able to do something more with the articulated boom the turret is mounted on
and turned it into a sensor boom as well, enabling a Thor crew to see around
corners. This boom, in turn, is connected to the Dracy TargeTrac targeting system.
The accuracy of the targeting system not only enables a crew to hold sight on a
target, but it is also tied to the two machineguns in the sensor booms. Infantry
trying to close with a thor don't realize how much trouble they are in until a sensor
boom peeks around a corner.
Deployment:
The Thor is mainly found in the LCAF armored forces as an urban combat
vehicle and tank-destroyer. While the Thor is less-expensive than other heavy
tanks such as the Manticore or the Von Luckner, the Thor is not fast enough or
large enough to take the place of a dedicated tank designed from the ground up.
Rumors have started circulating about a possible project to design a replacement
for both the Thor and the older heavy tanks. However, there are no facts to
support the hearsay and various rumors that have started to surface regarding
the project. Until any new tanks start to appear, the Thor will remain in
production until the last Thor chassis has been converted.
Variants:
One possible variant has been proposed to reduce the stresses put on the
turret traverse-bearing involves replacing the massive Defiance 'Mech Hunter
autocannon with a Defiance Killer Type T autocannon and two tons of ammunition.
A TharHes 4-Pack SRM-4 launcher is added to the secondary turret, and extra
armor is added to increase the protection for the tank to levels appropriate for
its mission. Another variant adds a Coventry 5-Tube LRM launcher to the
secondary turret to give the vehicle a small long-range capacity. Neither
variant has been seen in production as of yet, but it is assumed that once
testing of the variants is complete that the option will be given to customers
as to which variant they want.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 30 points 5.50
Engine: I.C.E. Engine 200 17.00
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 0 0.00
Control Equipment: 3.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 1.50
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 128 8.00
Armor
Factor
Front 31
Left/Right 25/25
Turret 26
Rear 21
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Machine Guns T 0 2 1.00
Autocannon/20 T 7 1 14.00
@AC/20 (20) BD - 0 4.00
@MG (200) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 4 Points: 7
4w 3 2 0 0 2 0 Structure: 3
Special Abilities: EE, TUR(3/2/0, AC 2/2/0), AC 2/2/0
