Aegis Point Defense Suit - Experimental Technical Readout The Republic III page 15
Just when you think that we've got all the battlesuit roles defined along comes something new. MechWarrior Dark Age gave us the Centaur, adding artillery to the battle armor repertoire, and now we get the next new class of suit that can trace its origins to clickytech, in the form of the
Aegis Point Defense Suit.
Sharp-eyed players will probably have noticed the reference to the Aegis and its base chassis in the RISC Advanced Point Defense System entry in Interstellar Operations. From that it would have been possible to reverse engineer likely configurations for the Aegis, but with
Experimental Technical Readout Republic III, we can see the actual design itself.
Based upon StarCorps' Angerona Scout Suit and serving only in the RAF, the Aegis is a simple modification involving the removal of two pieces of equipment to provide room for the massive APDS. Dismounting the Camo System from the Angerona's back, which by itself accounts for 20% of the suit's total mass, allows a simple swap of the Light Recoilless Rifle for the Advanced Point Defense System, with 30kg left over to allow the ammo supply to be tripled.
The result is a suit that can do... not much. That said, what it can do is unique. The Angerona article covers most of the non-weapon capabilities of the Aegis, but in brief we have a medium battlesuit that lacks jump jets, has a high ground speed, moderate armor and top quality stealth capabilities. Able to move three hexes per Turn, the Aegis can generate a Target Movement Modifier to enhance the already good protection provided by the Improved Stealth plating. The suit does need every defensive modifier it can get, because it only has six points of armor, equal to the best that can be mounted on mere light battlesuits.
The thin armor does make the Aegis vulnerable to one-shot kills by many heavier weapons, from the faithful old Large Laser and upwards. That's not as bad as it might seem in my experience, because many players think twice about shooting at battle armor using such weapons when there are enemy BattleMechs and tanks around, and given the Aegis' role, that will typically be the case. The added penalty for shooting at stealthy battlesuits increases the deterrence and combined with the near lack of offensive capability, there's probably not going to be many opponents who're going to assign heavy direct-fire weapons to the task of killing an Aegis squad. Of course, if your opponent is fielding Clantech, then you'll probably be facing Clan Medium Lasers, which is very bad news for the Aegis.
Thanks to the mass requirements of the APDS, aka the RISC Anti-Missile System or RAMS, the only ranged weapon left on the Aegis is whatever is installed on the AP Weapon Mount fitted on the left arm. Using standard rules, this gives an Aegis squad the same firepower as a Ballistic Rifle infantry platoon of the same size, so you're looking at two points of damage out to a long range of three hexes at best. Yeah. If you're using optional rules, then you can squeeze out some extra range and damage, based upon the actual weapons carried, but don't be expecting much ranged offensive capability from the Aegis, it's not what they're built to do.
The Aegis is little more than a walking anti-missile point defense system, designed to guard other units from incoming missile fire. Able to shoot down missiles aimed at any friendly unit within three hexes, only a single salvo per Turn can be targeted by any individual APDS, with an entire Aegis squad counted as one system. That's OK if you're engaging a single foe with only one launcher, but you're going to be SOL if facing a SRM Carrier or the combined efforts of a Fire Lance. While I like the idea of adding another tool to the battle armor toolbox, I'm starting to get the sort of twitches I feel about many Battle Armor C3 implementations. Sure, it's always nice to avoid taking some damage, but even while engaging a missile salvo I would have to wonder whether I would have been better served if I'd instead opted for different battle armor.
There's also the issue that the Aegis has to be on its own feet to be able to provide its defensive shield, so don't think that you can get a free lunch and provide cover while hitching a ride on an Omni or APC, which potentially limits the mobility of the units under escort. The Aegis' write-up in Republic III does suggest that the suit is typically assigned to guarding Ares, and in those cases it will at least be able to keep up with the unit under escort. When guarding something as slow as an Ares, the only time that Aegis squads have to be carried is when crossing rivers or other terrain features that block jump-less battle armor. Thanks to the Aegis' twin basic manipulators; it will be able to ride on Omnis like the Ares, so at least in those cases you won't also be forced to supply a transport as well as the battle suits themselves.
Those manipulators also provide the Aegis with Anti-Mech capability as the last line of defense that they can provide for their charges. Although able to conduct a viable Leg Attack, the Aegis is incapable of inflicting damage in a Swarm due to the lack of a ’Mech-scale offensive weaponry. If the attackers are tanks, the manipulators allow you to wave as they attack whatever your Aegis are meant to be protecting. The AP mount won't be much of a deterrent for infantry and any ’Mech able to keep out of reach will equally be able to comfortably bypass an escort of Aegis.
Overall, I have to say that I severely doubt the viability of the Aegis. All it takes is for an opponent to employ the evil and cunning tactic of using ballistic or energy weapons and the suit is effectively pointless, and even if missiles are used the Aegis can easily find itself overwhelmed. Add in the mobility issue when escorting units faster than the glacial Ares and I'm getting well into Do Not Want territory. This isn't a fault of the Angerona chassis that's the foundation of the suit; it's the APDS that's the problem, specifically the high mass for battle armor equipment. Switching to using a heavy chassis could provide extra payload to allow some additional weaponry, but then you'd be losing the Anti-Mech attack plus you have to install speed boosting hardware if you want to maintain the same mobility. Using some Clan technology would also help, but even avoiding mixed tech, I can't help wishing that the Aegis had started as a Centaur, Taranis or Phalanx.
Speaking of other battle armor, one alternative usage instead of just clinging to an Ares' coat tails might be as an anti-Inferno escort for heavier battlesuits. You generally won't have any mobility issues escorting other battle armor and even the effects of a single APDS could be enough to prevent a suit from being destroyed.
Putting APDS on a battlesuit isn't all bad news. Battle armor have a 360 degree field of fire, removing one restriction suffered by larger platforms using the system, and they also don't have to track ammunition usage, removing another major limitation. Of course, the latter feature does mean that the extra ammunition is pointless in a Total War scenario, but the suit was obviously designed with greater realism in mind, plus there isn't much else that could be done with that 30kg anyway.
jymset: I disagree with sillybrit's assessment of the Aegis on account of one fundamental point.
The whole point of the Aegis is that it deploys the APDS and as such it must no longer be viewed in terms of what it achieves as a BA. Given that, then looking at the APDS aspect, it's neater and cheaper than other existing units which deploy it.
The Osprey is an entire 'Mech. At that scale, then fair enough, it kinda at least partially has to work as a 'Mech.
The Padilla? Well... it works as a vehicle. In fact, it works so well that the APDS realistically plays second fiddle to that stealthed gauss rifle.
The Aegis? It's all about the APDS and about the APDS alone. When in doubt, just slap a squad of Aegis on that Doloire - it can't hurt, after all. And who cares if those four troopers get waxed? Well, apart from the troopers that is, but in the game meta? It matters not. Any shot wasted on those Aegis suits is yet another shot not hitting another target. And that's the cherry on top of those swatted missiles! Everyone wins!
Maybe the Angerona wasn't the perfect platform for APDS, but it's what they had. It's simple, it works, and it's elegant - although I'm kinda sorry I didn't slap magclamps on it. Other than that, I think the Aegis suits the whole concept of both the weapon and the parent suit well.
Sillybrit touched on the good points of the Aegis, so I was singularly stumped as to why he was so negative, but it just goes to show the true love he has for BA. But the sad truth of the matter - and I know he knows this - is that BA is nothing if not expendable... and in the meantime that Aegis squad is free AMS. Free AMS for everyone! :D For me, the Aegis is an interesting concept, and a neat way to address the Rhodes Aegis variant of the Angerona from MWDA, but I can't say that it's a suit that I'd want to deploy outside of forces being chosen for their flavor. If I'm fielding a RAF force, I'd rather take different battle armor, and if I'm instead running the enemy force they're so easily countered that they can be pretty much ignored. It's sad that such an innovative concept effectively falls flat, but this is not the battlesuit for me.
