I saw the 'Mech Mortar in SAW, and despite a lack of game info on how it works decided the idea was too cool to pass up. So I decided to design a vehicle around it.
Stokes Mortar Support Vehicle
Mass: 35 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Tracked
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-F-E-A
Production Year: 0
Cost: 407,250 C-Bills
Battle Value: 329
Power Plant: GM 140 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 43.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 64.8 km/h
Armor: StarSlab/6 Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Stokes Model 8 Mech Mortar 8
Manufacturer: Ceres Metals Industrioes
Primary Factory: Indicass
Communications System: CeresCom Model 8
Targeting and Tracking System: Ceres TracSight
Overview:
Jason Stokes was one of the first engineers to see the utility of an age-old
weapon system, the heavy mortar, and work to update it for the 29th Century.He
wass able to convince his superiors at Ceres Metals that the new mortar system
would provide superior concentrated indirect fire suppoort on the battlefield
in addition to being able to fire a range of different type of ammunition to
give it enhanced untility. Ceres Metals was interested enough to fund his
work on the new weapon system and over the next 10 years Stokes and his team
were able to work out the bugs in the new weapon system. In tandem with the
mortar, other engineers worked on a motorized platform for the weapon system to
give it better accuracy. What Jason Stokes was able to show in prototype form
was the Mortar Support Vehicle, which was tagged with his family's name as it
was one of his distant ancestors who had first developed the original
battlefield mortar over a thousand years before.
Capabilities:
The Stokes was designed around one mission, and that is to deploy the Stokes
Model 8 heavy mortar and its ammunition. In order to defray the cost of
developing the weapon system itself, the Mortar Support Vehicle was designed
around a simple GM ICE powerplant. Adequate for moving about the battlefield,
the GM is sturdy and efficient without any quirks or issues. The chassis of
the vehicle is set on tracks that are designed to add to the stability of the
vehicle when set up to fire the mortar. The vehicle has a minimum of armor,
though for a support vehicle this is not a major issue.
The mortar is mounted in a turret to allow the weapon to be easily aimed in
any direction without moving the vehicle. When hull down, a Mortar Support
Vehicle is almost invisible due to the design of the turret. The vehicle
carries 4 tons of ammunition for the mortar, including armor-piercing rounds,
smoke, flare, and airburst rounds. The usual loadout varies depending on the
type of targets anticipated but usually is heavy on armor-piercing rounds for
general purpose with airbust rounds or anti-personnel rounds for lighter
targets.
The Ceres TracSight targeting system was designed to work with the mortar
weapon system, allowing for the gunner to put mortar rounds on a target with a
high degree of accuracy. The system does have some accuracy degredadtion when
firing on the move, due to the track-based stabilization system being
disengaged for movement.
Deployment:
The Stokes is most common in Capellan support units, where its cheap cost is
balanced by its unique weapons system. The vehicle was designed to fill one
role, and the Capellan Warrior Houses have seen little use for the vehicle.
The low cost of the vehicle has made it more appealing to mercenary units,
though the low production numbers still makes it a relatively uncommon sight on
the battlefield.
Variants:
The main issue with the vehicle is a lack of a dedicated close-range
anti-infantry self-defense weapon. Some crews have forgone a ton of
ammunition to mount a SperryBrowning machinegun and a half-ton of ammunition
to cover the vehicle if it is caught out in the open by enemy infantry or light
vehicles.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 20 points 3.50
Engine: I.C.E. Engine 140 10.00
Cruise MP: 4
Flank MP: 6
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 0 0.00
Control Equipment: 2.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 1.00
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 72 4.50
Armor
Factor
Front 18
Left/Right 14/14
Turret 14
Rear 12
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mech Mortar 8 T 10 1 10.00
@Mortar 8 (Armor Piercing) (8) BD - 0 2.00
@Mortar 8 (Airburst) (4) BD - 0 1.00
@Mortar 8 (Flare) (4) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 2 Points: 3
4t 1 1 1 0 1 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: EE, TUR(1/1/1), IF 1
