IRN-SD1 Ironsides - 65t, TRO2750
Originally posted 15 Feb. 2006. All proposed fan-variants should be posted in the corresponding “FotW Workshop†thread. Brooks Manufacturing Inc. took an expensive gamble on the IRN-SD1
Ironsides, building several batches of the type - in numbers eventually exceeding a total of five hundred units - and sending them out to Regular (SLDF) Army units in a ‘try before you buy’ programme intended to both field-test the spaceframe and endear it to commanders
before it was formally purchased
or put into full-scale production. By the time the SLDF Quartermaster Corps actually placed a formal order, three years’ worth of priceless operational experience had been garnered, allowing Brooks to iron out
most of the quirks and ramp up for full-rate production even as the end-user units digested the lessons they’d learned in preparation for the type’s
formal introduction.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get
all the bugs out, and overheating caused by the emplacement of energy weapons close to vital structural junctions in the wings is suspected to have played a part in three fatal mid-air explosions during sustained combat.
Not an overly reassuring rumour for pilots to hear, I’m sure, but the type’s Medium and Short-range punch were hard to argue with.
Most ASFs in the medium weight-bracket clock in as 6/9 dogfighters with five-ton fuel loads, and the
Ironsides is no exception. (Interestingly, fluff-text about an engine with a variable centre-of-gravity that makes it significantly lighter and more compact than other powerplants of similar outputs suggests that the
Ironsides might have been a test-bed for ASF application of XL engine technology, though if that’s actually the case, the stats in TRO2750 don’t reflect it.) The armour is noted in the fluff as being a little thin, especially over the wings, and indeed, eleven-point-five tons of standard armour at 61/36/51 isn’t what I’d call wonderful; it could be worse, but it could be a touch better, too. :-X
Related to the above point, the fluff says that the amount of weaponry in the wings was minimised because of the airfoils’ vulnerability; sorry, guys, but someone sold you a bill of goods there. ::) The nose houses twin PPCs - never a bad place to start, as any
Marauder driver will eagerly tell you - and an SRM-6 with a ton of ammo; each wing houses twin(!) SRM-6s (feeding off the fuselage rack’s magazine) and a single medium laser. It was these last which caused those fatal mid-air explosions if you believe the RumInt, and considering that the type has only ten freezers, it’s an understandable conclusion to draw: you have enough dissipation capacity for bracketed fire of the paired PPCs
or all five SRM banks, and the MLs end up either driving up your heat-scale or doing nothing for a lot of the fight.
Now, I can’t say that having only three salvoes for my primary knife-range weapons is especially comforting, but ye
gods does the thing have crit-seeking capability in air-to-ground or AT1 environments! >:/! (What, was one of the designers named Itano or something? ’Cause thirty SRMs all headed at the same target is a definite Macross Missile Massacre moment, and the effects upon impact will likely be little short of hideous! :o) The amount of sheer punch an
Ironsides can generate is pretty impressive on a sixty-five-ton spaceframe: Strafes put as much energy on target as the main batteries of a
Warhammer, and a Strike with the missiles will exploit any soft spots with ruthless efficiency. Those twin PPCs make the IRN-SD1 a fearsome Medium-range sniper/tenderiser, and its thirteen-ton external load at 3/5 makes it a pretty decent escort/fighter-bomber.
Ironsides anti-’Ship operations are going to dish out more than their fair share of bruises, too: a squadron’s 12-Capital PPC bay is enough to shred many light vessels in one or two passes, and the follow-up at Short range is scarcely less vicious, being that the SRM bays offer two 10-Capital clouts and one of 5-Capital, with two 3-Capital nudges from the ML banks if heat allows (or ammo depletion demands).
Pilots looking to make it through an air-to-air engagement in an
Ironsides are advised to use slashing tactics as much as possible. Those twin PPCs offer staggering hitting power, but you don’t have the heat capacity to use them in conjunction with anything else (much less a full dose from one or both wings!), so you’d really, really rather not get into any turning fights. Make your SRM ammo count: if you find a cripple or juicy singleton at Short range, centreline him and give him a full spread of missiles (and
only the missiles) as a finisher - otherwise, save the good news for some more deserving recipient. They may not be paying you to bring ammo home, but they
are paying you to use it
effectively. Watch your flanks (and your uncomfortably soft wings), stick with your wingmate, shoot straight, run fast, conserve ammo, and
never deal with a dragon forget the fundamentals. :D
In accordance with those same fundamentals, those going after
Ironsides should try to work around their flanks or aft - the wings are thin-skinned and the stern is unarmed - and the preference for the task would be for interceptors or fast dogfighters like the
Samurai. Long-range fire-support wouldn’t hurt, either, so missile-platforms like my perennial ‘best in breed’ the
Shilone have more ‘Happy Times’ ahead of them. }:)
[VARIANT PROPOSAL(S) REDACTED] All proposed fan-variants - including my own - belong in the corresponding “FotW Workshop†thread: http://www.classicbattletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,4507.0.html Be advised: the attached .txt transcript(s) of previous run(s) of this thread may contain numerous reader-proposals for variants. I’ll try to change those out for ‘sanitised’ versions of those threads when I can, but I can’t promise it’ll be soon - that’s a lot of ground to cover. ;)
