Hellion OmniMech- Maker in the Dark Age?

[Colt Ward]

Very simply, who builds it in the Dark Age?

When the Hellion's Operation Ice Storm failed during the Jihad it left the wreckage of several galaxies in the JFOZ and along the edge of the Hell Horse & Crusader Wolf OZs.  The galaxies were the bulk of the Hellion's touman, both the elite formations and the bulk of line troops.  One of the final blows to Ice Storm was the capture of a massive supply convoy that was for all intents unguarded (hello wasted Potemkin and other warships) which would have had the output of factories from the Homeworlds.

By MWDA fluff and availability (by this I mean Wizkids), the Hellion was available and not a rare piece of equipment.

So who builds it?

My first inclination is that the Crusader Wolves should have- they were not building a light Omni until the Wulfen in the 3120s/30s and were not building their medium stand ins afaik, no Phantoms or Ice Ferrets.  But its not on their RAT at all though the ER3145 & FM3145 Crusader Wolf RATs have known problems so it has to be taken into account with all the other RAT reservations.

The Sea Foxes have it on the FM3145 RAT as the highest number.  The Crimson Hawk and TIburon, which they produce, is more frequent in all their variations.  So they do not seem likely.

The Horses have it, but its just a bit available than the Sea Foxes.

Which leaves the Jade Falcons . . . who should have had the most copies as salvage and from the convoy Isorla.  Its a much higher frequency on the FM RATs but the same as the Horses on the ER.  It compliments the Cougar & Fire Falcon in their stable of light Omnis while they have secondline designs of the same movement profile and would share parts with the Kit Fox.  The Hellion would also be slightly faster than their latest secondline design, the Eyrie.

[Deadborder]

There's no indication at all that the Hellion is being produced in the Inner Sphere. Those that exist in the IS are likely leftover salvage from the homeworlds or Operation ICE STORM.

Also again, RATs do not inform Canon and are not an exhaustive indication of who has (or does not have) access to what design. Master Unit List is a far better source for availability.

[pensiveswetness]

At glance, there is no official reason why it should not be theoretically in production in the Dark Age era. Clan Cloud Cobra had 100% control of hector in 3085. The Hellion wasn't included in the list of No-Longer-in-Production units [Pg. 17, WoR Supplemental] and other than being the signature 'mech of a tainted Clan... though, maybe not, when you think about the reasons they didn't continue production of some units used by Jade Falcon (Hellbringer, Fire Falcon, etc.)

[truetanker]

Who has control of Hector now?

Wouldn't be far fetched if SF/DS made off with the plans...

TT

[Deadborder]

The OP's question was about Helion production in the Inner Sphere. While I see no reason for it to be out of production in the Homeworlds (at least, as of the last look at the homeworlds as of 3085-90) that's immaterial to the question.

[Colt Ward]

Also again, RATs do not inform Canon and are not an exhaustive indication of who has (or does not have) access to what design. Master Unit List is a far better source for availability.

Yes, because I did not throw out those caveat . . .


And the MUL does not speak to frequency either, though the availability matches . . . and the MUL does extend availability if its on the RATs from what I understand.  Like I said, it would have made sense IMO if the Crusader Wolves had begun churning this out with all the problems I cited but they seem to have only built 4/6'ers after the Jihad.

[Deadborder]

Yes, because I did not throw out those caveat . . .


And the MUL does not speak to frequency either, though the availability matches . . . and the MUL does extend availability if its on the RATs from what I understand.  Like I said, it would have made sense IMO if the Crusader Wolves had begun churning this out with all the problems I cited but they seem to have only built 4/6'ers after the Jihad.

The Crusader Wolves weren't able to mass-produce any OmniMechs until the Tomahawk IIin the 3090s, and even then it had "problems" with its production that kept numbers low. If you were to go purely by RATs, then the Wolves don't have access to it at all.

(Then again, there was a claim that the Republic must have an Orion IIC factory because it appeared on one campaign-specific RAT...)

Again, there's no reason at all to say that the Helion is manufactured in the Inner Sphere at all, unless there's some WK-era fluff that says otherwise that I'm not aware of. It's available to four clans, all of which could have logically acquired their samples through salvage or trade. Finally, the distribution of MWDA miniatures is not something that should be taken as an indication of canon at all. (For example, there were no Falcon Jupiters or Wolf Tundra Wolves...)

[Colt Ward]

I already acknowledged the Wolf Empire RATs in ER & FM are flawed, easiest example is no LC or FWL salvage from Hammerfall.

As for 'Wolf' Tundra Wolves, IIRC the reasoning was that they 'absorbed' the Steel Wolves and so all the Tundras in their forces 'counted' as Wolf machines.

I DO want to say there was some indication the Hellion was being built in MWDA but never who built it- guess I need to go check dossiers, etc.

[glitterboy2098]

the warrenborn site shows 6 Hellion figures in the MWDA game.. one each for Steiner, Davion, Kurita, and the Republic, and two gunslingers.. "Quantum" and "Laser bait"
i believe the Hellion figures were added after they stopped doing the Dossier's.

[Deadborder]

the warrenborn site shows 6 Hellion figures in the MWDA game.. one each for Steiner, Davion, Kurita, and the Republic, and two gunslingers.. "Quantum" and "Laser bait"
i believe the Hellion figures were added after they stopped doing the Dossier's.

It was. There's pilot bios for the MechWarriors of Quantum and Laser Bait, but nothing about the 'Mechs themselves or where they came from.

I think it's safe to say that the Helion is not being manufactured in the IS.

[glitterboy2098]

Or if it is, it went the way of the classic timberwolf. Hand built in small numbers. I could see the sharks having a few groups that do such builds, just to make otherwise unavailable designs stay on the sales lists.