Shrike BattlemechWeight – 95 Tons
Max Speed – 64kph
Jump distance – 150 meters
The Shrike is the largest of Clan Jade Falcons totem inspired Mechs, rounding out the weight classes for the Falcons IMMA BIRD!! Looks.
At 95-tons the Shrike fills the same weight bracket as the older Turkina, but the two Mechs couldn’t be more different. Whereas the Turkina is a slow, very heavily armed battering ram of a Mech, the Shrike is a rapier. Its design is about finesse, controlling an engagement and the battle with its speed and agility which are surprising for a Mech its size.
The Shrike’s DNA can be traced back to the Onager, a fearsome looking but under-gunned design that entered service in the 3080’s. Adding 5-tons of weight as well as employing the full range of weight saving materials, including an XL engine, Endo-Steel and Ferro Fibrous armour, the Shrike can carry a lot more equipment than the Onager ever could. At the cost that its got limited internal space. All of which is protected by 15-tons of Ferro-Fibrous armour giving the Shrike almost the full protection for its weight class.
With the success of the Eyrie and Gyrfalcon, the already imposing looks of the Onager were enhanced, making it more birdlike. This is most prominently helped with the inclusion of a Partial Wing system that the Falcons were deploying on many Mechs. Whereas the Onager used hugely heavy Improved Jump Jets, these were not used on the Shrike. Instead the standard Grandthrust Mk5 jumpjets would let the Mech jump up to 120 meters, the Partial Wing adding another 30 meters of jumping range. Its ground speed was also an improvement over the Onager and Turkina. A 380 rated XL engine lets it hit 64kph. So, you’ve got a fast, and agile Mech, but the weight saving equipment, jump jets and partial wing all have their own cost and the Shrike is lacking internal space due to the amount of equipment it carries.
Still this didn’t stop the Falcons from falling in love with the fearsome looking design as it ticks all the boxes for speed and jumping that the Falcons love so much, combined with its looks its no wonder the Shrike became the MUST HAVE ride for Falcon Officers.
But by far the Shrikes most notorious pilot is the Falcons current Khan, Malvina Hazen who is either genocidal or pretty much omnicidal (as well as sociopathic, sadistic etc etc. She's a veritable catalogue of crazy). Either way she’s a terror to face either in person or on the Battlefield in her customised Shrike the
Black Rose.
VariantsStandard – The standard Shrike emphasises that the Mech’s meant to be used carefully and by someone who knows how to use and abuse its positive traits. Like the smaller Gyrfalcon, the Shrike is made to fight at long range. Using its jump jets and Partial wing to hop around, picking an opponent apart before closing in to finish them off. A pair of ER Large lasers give the Mech its hardest direct punch whilst an LRM-10 mounted in the chest add more long-range firepower and a somewhat limited indirect fire punch.
At slightly shorter ranges a Warrior can then employ the dual Ultra AC-5’s mounted in the left arm to chip away at a foe. Whilst this may seem somewhat weak firepower for a 95-ton Clan Mech, the lasers and AC’s are tied into a targeting computer, and if these things are piloted by a high ranking officer, then they are probably going to be good shots, made even better thanks to the accuracy of the targeting computer.
The Mech’s 12 heatsinks even aided by the cooling provided by the Partial Wings are overwhelmed by this weapons load and jumping and firing the lot will put you at +9 heat before taking into account any external factors.
Its used like an oversized Gyrfalcon, bounce around at long range, using your impressive jumping range to control the fight and stop someone coming too close, wearing them down with ER lasers before coming in finishing the fight with the Ultra AC’s and firing ER large lasers as needed.
2 – The Shrike 2 is at the opposite end of the bell curve when compared to the Shrike. The 2’s job is to get into medium to short range and stay there. Stripping out all the weapons save the LRM-10 the 2 is armed with a pair of Ultra AC-10’s and a pair of ER Medium lasers. Dropping down to 11 heatsinks the Mech still over heats like the standard Shrike, but not so violently. Two double taps from the Ultras, the lasers, LRM and jumping will put you at +5 heat. Whereas the standard Shrike wants to keep away, the 2 wants to go “No! Do not run! I SAID DO NOT RUN!!!” using its ground speed and jumping to stop people trying to disengage from you. I’m not sure if this is really the best use for the Shrike though. When you get down to it, the Shrike 2 is under gunned and you’d probably be better off using a Turkina in the close assault role.
3 – The Shrike 3 was inspired by Malvina Hazen’s
Black Rose and she clearly wanted a Mech that ran as hot as her all consuming rage. To this end they took a standard Shrike, removed the ultra AC-5’s and added a pair of ER PPC’s whilst cramming heatsinks into every bit of available space. Still the 17 laser heatsinks and the Partial Wing can’t come anywhere near close to dealing with the heat surge of an alpha strike which will put you at +25 if you fire the lot and jump. Admittedly, the Mech that gets hit by that lot will also be wondering what the hell happened. But you’ll be lucky if the Shrike 3 does not then cripple itself with its LRM ammo cooking off. Of course, the targeting computer’s still there and if you are facing the
Black Rose I can only assume that Khan Hazen is a very good shot and what she points her guns at, she’s not going to miss, the targeting computer just makes doubly sure of this.
ThoughtsUnlike many Clan assaults, the Shrike is a far more subtle weapon of war than one might expect. Its not made to run up to you, scream I LIKE ICE CREAM!!! And then blat you with an ultra-20 or bury you under a wall of LRM’s. Its designed to pick you apart at long range. The 2 is the outlier of this but the standard Shrike and the 3 are built to take you apart with you barely being able to get a shot in reply. It’s a Mech that rewards patience, skill and a good gunner because by the time your opponent gets close, hopefully they’ll be so worn down that finishing them off will be easy.
Do I think its perfect? No, the pair of Ultra’s would be far better served if they were replaced with a Gauss rifle some ammo and heatsinks. The
Black Rose (aka Shrike 3) is hilariously over gunned for its cooling whilst the Shrike 2 is a bit unspectacular, its basically a jumping Cygnus.
What the Shrike is, is it’s a different experience. Its no alpha baby, and its not a gauss boat or something. This is a Mech that requires a bit of finesse and forethought in its use. Using one like a normal assault will be a poor use of its capabilities, but once you know how to use this Mech, you can drive opponents crazy as you slowly pick away at their armour, whilst they simply can’t get close. And if something smaller tries to get close, you’ve got the firepower to flatten it whilst most Heavy and Assault Mech’s will be left floundering in your wake, especially if you use and abuse terrain and woods to hide and cooldown.
Oh and a hint for fighting one. If you can, rip off the right arm. Its where the targetting computer is in all three variants.
Its been a LONG time since i've done one of these, too long! So any thoughts, comments and the like are most welcome!