Author Topic: Two Unique Vehicles for our Custom Realm  (Read 2328 times)

JPArbiter

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Two Unique Vehicles for our Custom Realm
« on: 09 February 2011, 23:23:29 »
Centaur Mobile Assault Gun Carriage

Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Movement Type: Wheeled
Tonnage: 65

Internal Structure: 6.5 Tons
Engine 305 Fuel Cell (Supercharged) 26 tons
Cruise MP- 5
Flank MP- 8 (10)
Heat Sinks: (1) 0 Tons
Control Equipment: 3.5 tons
Turret 1.5 tons

Armor Factor (Heavy Ferro Fiberous): 228 pts 11.5 tons
Front: 70
Right/Left Side: 35/35
Rear: 25
Turret: 63

Weapons and ammo
Thunderbolt 15 Turret 11 tons
Ammuntion Thunderbolt (20) Body 5 tons

Overview

Evidence that some combat systems may be a dream to military brass and a nightmare to crews, the Centaur mobile gun carriage was described as “perhaps the most valuable hunk of junk in the entire EDF if you can get the blasted thing to work properly.”

Capabilities

When called upon the create a combat system that was as much of a psychological weapon as an actual combat system.  The design team went about finding extant military designs that were visually intimidating.  When Nevermind Engineers came  across the clan’s Ishtart Tank with its oversized off road front wheels they knew they had found their paradigm.  Soon the project came underway and the first Centaur, carrying a high speed assault autocannon was a slow, cumbersome beast, noted for hyper-masuculine lines and a weapon that was nothing short of phallic.

When the call for a “heavy indirect fire platform that was extremely mobile and durable” caused Nevermind to revisit the Centaur.  Replacing the bulky and expensive Fusion engine with the more common and easy to maintain fuel cell format allowed the speed to be increased over 300 %

The Ultra autocannon while valuable for putting damage on a target, was not able to fulfill the indirect fire ability.  Initially a Long Range Missile 20 rack was considered, until plans were purchased from TharHes for the Thunderbolt Missile system.  Mounting the Type C Launcher in a pseudo “rocket cannon” the Centuar can project the firepower of a heavy PPC down range  both directly and indirectly on the battlefield.

Finally the tank was covered in 11 tons of heavy ferro fiberous plate.  While the turret and front are the most well armored locales, each facing is able to shrug off a point blank blast from a heavy gauss rifle without the crew of the vehicle being threatened, a safety measure the crews of centaurs appreciate.  the use of any type of Ferro Fiberous materiel has stirred controversy in the Sanhedrien's  defense spending comittie.  the carbon poor worlds that make up the populated Elysium core mean that the armor plate has to be imported from the Lyran Commonwealth, usually at a premium.

Deployment

Despite its initial rejection by the EDF, the redesigned centaur has proven extremely popular with the 1st and 2nd Division, where it uses it as a fast attack vehicle.  The Lioness Combat Team possesses a Demi Company of the vehicle as well, and at least a lance can be found in every planetary Milita save for Cardith.
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JPArbiter

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Re: Two Unique Vehicles for our Custom Realm
« Reply #1 on: 09 February 2011, 23:25:35 »
Raven Helicopter

Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Advanced)
Movement Type: VTOL
Tonnage: 30

Internal Structure: 3 Tons
Engine 160 Fuel Cell 7.5 tons
Cruise MP- 10
Flank MP- 15
Heat Sinks: (1) 0 Tons
Control Equipment: 1.5 tons
Lift Equipment 3 tons

Armor Factor
Front: 16
Right/Left Side: 10/10
Rear: 10
Rotor: 2

Weapons and ammo
AP Gauss Rifle Front .5 tons
Ammuntion AP Gauss (40) Body 1
Heavy Machine gun Right Side 1 ton
Heavy Machine Gun Left Side 1 ton
Ammo HMG (50) .5 tons
Cargo (infantry) 4 tons
Lift Hoist 3 tons

Overview
Replacing no fewer then three helicopters used by the SLDF and House Amaris (the Cyrano, Hawker and Iriqouis XVI) the Ravem is a 30 ton helicopter provided by Nevermind industries whose primary purpose is to deliver and provide arial support to those same infantry troops, be they battle armor or conventional troops

Capabilities
Unlike the Centaur, which was initially a failed design, the Raben was Instantly a success.  Built around the principle of speed, the 160 Hydrogen Fuel Cell Engine also provides to boon of running at half the decibel level of a flywheel powered helicopter, and at a nearly 40% reduction in thermal profile.

Despite these caps, the Raven can still travel at a speed of 160 KPH delivering troops more rapibdly then land based APCs thanks to its VTOL nature, and extracting them just as quickly.
To fulfill its support role the Raven mounts an AP Gauss Rifle in the nose with a full ton of ammunition to feed it.  Further each side boasts a heavy machine gun that can be fired either by the ravens targeting computer, or overridden and fired manually by the passenegers.

The final component in the Ravens arsenal is a lift hoist that can permit it to haul up to 15 tons of cargo with no loss in performance.  In exercises as well as actual combat this has been used to haul deployable bridges, Medical supplies, support vehicles for the infantry it hauls, and even at one point a Beagle Hovertank

Deployment
The Raven and its variants are found in every division and every militia, with only the Orbital Response Command not containing any, and that is merely because of the units charter.  Mirroring the former Free Worlds states and DCMS Ravens are traditionally attached to Infantry Regiments rather then armor.

Variants
Aside from mission specific ambulance, cargo/salvage, and SAR variations which strip everything out for specialized equipment, there is also the Kasatka Gunship variant, which removes cargo capacity and lift hoists to mount a quartet of Rocket Launcher 10s, 3 AP gauss Rifles and two hardpoints designed to deploy bombs, anti radiation missiles, or two additional rocket pods
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