In the mid 3050s, the Federated Commonwealth was in serious need of more mechs to fight the Clans. Up stood the Lyran Commonwealth's largest manufacturer, Defiance Industries. Unlike the Tempest that I covered last time, there's no indication that the Salamander was in the works prior to the Clan Invasion, and Defiance canonically has shown the ability to turn mechs from concept to production in a very short time frame.
Regardless, in 3055 the PPR-5S Salamander walked off the assembly line and made a big hit. Similar in many ways to the AWS-9M Awesome, it too is an 80 ton assault mech that moves 4/6 thanks to a Pitban 320 XL with 15.5 tons of standard armor plating providing the maximum protection for its size. However, unlike the Awesome, the Salamander keeps the torso armor mainly to the front, making it better protected against enemies in front of it at a heightened vulnerability to backstabbers, with 42/8 and 28/6 for the center and side torsos, respectively. The arms and legs carry 26 and 34 points.
Firepower wise, it also has some resemblance to the Awesome thanks to carrying three of the same main guns arranged in the left torso, right torso, and left arm. But that's largely where the similarities end, because the Salamander uses Endo-Steel to save enough mass for it to pack three LRM-20s, with a total of nine tons of ammo between them, split three ways between the side torsos and left arm. CASE protects the torsos in the event of an ammo explosion but the XL engine means that the mech is out of commission in the event of an explosion anyway. A pair of medium lasers sit in the center torso, more to keep enemies that get close honest than to actually provide real defense. The stock 20 heat dissipation provided by its internal double heatsinks is sufficient for keeping it cool except for the rare occasions when it alpha strikes.
As soon as the Salamander hit the field, there were talks about variants, the first of which showed up a year later, the PPR-5T. Downgrading the LRM-20s to 15s and the medium lasers to smalls while losing three tons of ammo and some of the armor, the mech upgrades the engine to an enormous 400XL for the ability to move 5/8.
The next two models introduced, the 6S and 6T, showed up in 3058 and 3060 and both try to improve the mech's short-range firepower at the expense of the left arm missile launcher, while restoring the armor back up to the same level as the 5S. Both models change out the center torso medium lasers for medium pulse lasers, with the 6S adding an SRM 6 to the left arm and upgrading all three missile launchers with Artemis IV. The LRM ammo is a frankly boggling 8 tons. The 6T, meanwhile, sticks a Large Pulse Laser into the left arm and adds four additional double heatsinks while retaining only 6 tons of ammo for its LRM pods.
Showing up in 3064 during the height of the FedCom Civil War, the 7S model sought to improve the Salamander's mobility and durability at the same time. Dropping half a ton of armor (causing the removal of 1 point of armor from each forward location aside from the head), the LRM pods are downgraded to 15s but uses Artemis IV to insure that the average number of missiles isn't decreased too much. The medium lasers are upgraded to ER models. All this weight savings goes into swapping the engine out for a light model to insure that now it can survive an ammo explosion, and four jump jets are added to let it maneuver better in built-up terrain.
The last variant didn't show up until the late Republic Era in 3111. The 7T dumps all the weaponry of the 5S and even the CASE. An XL Gyro is used to add additional weight savings in order to install two Extended LRM 15s and one Extended LRM 10, all tied to a Boosted C3 Slave unit. Two tons of ammo for the 10 and six tons for the 15s insures that it can keep firing for some time, but it completely lacks secondary armaments.
So, how do you use a Salamander? That's pretty simple- you find a good spot and begin raining missiles on target. It's not a dueling mech, so don't deploy it by itself and coordinate with your other units. You really want to have something to act as a bodyguard, since at close range a Salamander goes from "undergunned" (6S and 6T) to "completely helpless (5T and 7T). Most variants have deep enough ammo bins that you can afford to take some different munition types if they're available, and it's great for IDF work if you have a spotter you can use.
How do you fight a Salamander? That's also pretty simple- get in its face. Or better yet, get in its rear where its thin torso armor makes it extra vulnerable- all it can bring to bear in its rear arc is the left-arm weapon, which isn't going to be effective if it's an LRM pod and you're close. Just mind the fact that while it may be lacking in close-range weapons, it's still an 80 ton mech so watch out for physicals. Obviously, AMS is highly effective on this mech, though with three missile launchers it's quite good at overwhelming a single AMS unit and pummeling you anyway- having more than one AMS is better. In later eras, Reactive and Ballistic Reinforced armor are both highly effective against it as well.
And that's the Salamander in a nutshell. I've used the mech a few times and it's made a good showing of itself. I'm sure that you all have thoughts, opinions, or stories about it as well.
