Named for the monstrous adversaries of Ireland's first mythological human settlers, the Fomoir is a fairly basic second line suit of power armor, offering none of the spectacle or fantastic abilities its name would suggest. Originally developed by the Word of Blake for their Protectorate Militia Divisions, very few had made it into service before Terra itself came under invasion. During the brutal conflict, the Fomoir was used to replace losses among front line Blakist units as well as Terrasec, and the suit saw extensive action against Coalition forces up to the final Blakist surrender. Following the war, the Fomoir's relative obscurity kept it from suffering the same infamy of other Blakist hardware, and as such was produced in prodigious numbers for the young Republic's military. As more capable suits became available, the Fomoir was gradually phased out of Republic service, with production halting in 3090. This did not spell the end of the Fomoir, however. Cross Military Systems, a manufacturer based on Solaris, started up their own production line a year later, followed by Garvey Multinational (based on the Lyran world of Jatznik) a few years later. These two companies in turn began selling the suit to interested parties across the Inner Sphere.
By design it is intended as a rugged, affordable design for planetary militias, smaller mercenary companies, and other potential buyers that might be priced out of more advanced suits; or as an option for house militaries to free up more capable units for front line duty. Classified as a "light" suit, the Fomoir's size limits the amount of armor and firepower it can carry, however its mobility is excellent, and many militias find the suit's smaller size handy for deployment from older APCs originally developed for conventional infantry. The suit's sole weapon is a powerful, but inherently short ranged heavy machine gun, which allows the suit to punch above its weight, at least as long as it can get close enough to do so. In this respect, the boosted jump jets are extremely useful, though sometimes their value comes from being better able to evade an opponent who won't cooperate rather than closing to engage.
Though the Fomoir doesn't carry a modular weapons mount, the designers made certain to ensure it could be readily customized as needed. Common variants include swapping the heavy machine gun for a flamer, a pair of light machine guns, or twin micro-grenade launchers. A somewhat more advanced version pairs a standard machine gun or David gauss rifle with a TAG. This model is most commonly seen in Marik territory, usually working in concert with LRM carriers loaded with semi-guided munitions.
Cross Military Systems was a casualty of the Wolf Clan's takeover of Solaris, when the jittery defenders sabotaged the plant despite peaceful overtures from the Wolves. For their part, Garvey Multinational has voluntarily earmarked all future production exclusively for the LCAF and allied mercenary forces. This means the supply of new suits on the open market has completely dried up, however the Fomoir is still relatively easy to find across the antispinward Inner Sphere, and surprisingly, even beyond it. Accounts from Interstellar Expeditions indicate that the Fomoir has somehow found its way to the distant territory known as the Thelos sector, a collection of small squabbling states over a hundred and fifty light years from the Inner Sphere's borders. How these states, technologically comparable to the periphery at the low point of the Third Succession War, could have acquired these suits or kept them maintained is unknown, especially as only a few of their jumpships can even manage the journey to the Inner Sphere, and almost none have tried since sometime before the Jihad.
Fomoir Light Battlearmor
IS TW non-box set
BV: 180
Cost: 2,010,000 C-bills
Movement: 1/1/4
Internal: 4
Armor: 24
Internal Armor
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Trooper 1 1 6
Trooper 2 1 6
Trooper 3 1 6
Trooper 4 1 6
Weapon Loc Heat
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Heavy Machine Gun (Right arm) Squad 0
Equipment Loc
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Jump Booster (Body) Squad
Basic Manipulator (Left arm) Squad
Basic Manipulator (Right arm) Squad
