And to elaborate on this setting/AU a bit more.
New Weapon Developments.
Lightweight Gun System – The LGS was a join Horse/Coyote project to produce a lighter, smaller autocannon that consumed less resources and was easier to make and maintain. This light weapon could then be used in the place of heavier ultra or LB pattern weapons and allow for the use of various ammunition types that were also developed alongside the gun system.
The LGS was designed as a smoothbore weapon system and would fire a wide range of discarding sabot rounds. It also used a greatly reduced charge of propellant which reduced the stress on the weapons breech and barrel, allowing them to be made much lighter and smaller, reducing weight and bulk.
These changes did reduce the shell velocity and thus range but when an LGS-2 weighed a mere 3.5 tons compared to an ultra AC-2’s 5 tons the saving in weight was formidable.
Three different calibre’s of LGS were developed but these were never as popular as the more traditional ultra and LB pattern weapons despite the flexibility offered by the ammunition types. It is believed that because these weapons were first deployed on second line vehicles they were seen as inferior weapons fit for only Solhama personnel or Freeborn troops and many Clan Warriors snubbed them and outside of garrison forces in Clan Wolf, Coyote, Blood Spirit and Hells Horses, the LGS was very rarely seen.
(yes this is this universes Protomech autocannons and are identical in stats and performance)
Chemical Lasers
Although an ancient weapon system that hadn’t been used in centuries the Chemical laser did offer some advantages that merited them being investigated by Scientists from Clan Hells Horses and Clan Coyote. Running a powerful electric discharge through a highly concentrated mixture of oxygen and iodine produced a potent laser burst that could damage Mech armour. The intensity of the damage depended on how much chemicals were excited, and this did require the use of rather toxic chemicals (the Oxygen/Iodine mix was later replaced with a deuterium fluoride which was more stable than highly pressurised liquid oxygen). But, this only required an electric charge which could be powered by a high capacity battery to produce a lasing beam and produced negligible amounts of heat. There was no need for a fusion engine or any power converters, all that was needed was an electric current of sufficient power to start the lazing process and this could be provided by a capacitor on an ICE or Fuel cell engine.
Unfortunately the weapons themselves were rather bulky and no weight was saved, indeed, the large chemical laser weighed as much as a Spheroid large laser. And, due to their lower power output the weapons lacked the range and punch of Clan weapons, but instead had a similar hitting strength and beam focusing distance similar to the traditional standard lasers that had been in service for centuries amongst the House lords and SLDF beforehand.
The need for ‘ammunition’ now thankfully shrunk down to 75ml, 300 or 500ml ‘shells’ was another drawback and the loading system for these ‘shells’ took a while to develop as did the storage system and development of the firing system to start the lasing process, but, once these hurdles were overcome the Scientists began testing their Chemical lasers.
Like the LGS, the chemical laser was seen as a second line weapon and was put forwards for this role. The most complicated part of the whole system was the loading and venting system for the chemical ‘shells’ and they consumed far less resources than an ER or Pulse laser to make and, once crews were familiar with their operating procedures were simple to use. The only major tactical disadvantage to the Chemical laser is that it has a ‘charge up’ time as it takes a small amount of time for the chemicals to react before producing their energy which in turn forms the laser beam. This delay is only a quarter of a second, but it still requires more careful aim and target leading than one would usually have with typical energy weapons.
Battle armour weapons and systems.
As the Actaeon Assault Battle Armour was being developed, the requirement to be as flexible as possible meant that the Horse Scientists had to think outside the box and this needed the assistance of their allies in Clan Coyote who were eager to reap the benefits of any joint developments.
First, to carry a suitable amount of firepower a new form of mounting for the suits main weapon was required as otherwise almost any weapon system that was carried in the now traditional arm mount was simply too heavy and the only way to carry a heavier weapon than normal was to reduce the armour levels below those of the Gnome suit that was also in development, at which point the whole idea of a tough assault suit was invalidated by having thinner armour than a heavy unit.
To carry a heavy weapon, a power assisted and stabilised mounting was developed, this would plug into the suits power and draw power from there. Together with the battle armour’s usual servos and myomer assisted strength, a heavier weapon could be carried in a rifle like arrangement. And whilst the power drain reduced speed, the Actaeon was already slow and was designed more for building clearing purposes or defensive engagements, where its lack of speed would not be a problem.
This ‘detachable weapon pack’ saw some use on Elementals but was rather rare and only saw service on the Actaeon and later the Golem and Ironhold suits. Most Clans disliked the mobility penalties incurred by the mounting and it didn’t suit their modes of warfare.
Light and heavy calibre machine guns were also developed, the so called ‘light machine gun’ would see service on Mech’s and tanks across Clan space lacked the take down power of its heavier companions but made up for it with a blisteringly high rate of fire and a longer range. Conversely the heavy machine gun fired a much heavier round but to keep up its rate of fire, the propellant for it was reduced. This greatly reduced range some variant were more akin to rapid firing automatic grenade launchers, firing small explosive charges short distances that could butcher infantry squads.
The HMG, because of its limited range saw far less use in Clan service, but it was found in several defensive positions and on some vehicles that were used in counter insurgency engagements where heavy firepower at short range could end an ambush before it started.
The Horses and Coyote’s also looked into the old, but effective recoilless rifle and advances in ammunition and propellant was able to reduce the size of the weapon to a more practical length without it being so large and this didn’t adversely affect performance although back blast did remain an issue.
Whilst trying to develop the lightweight Varpulis battle armour and focusing on speed or maneuverability several small projects ballooned into new developments that did see widespread service in the Clans. The first was the Myomer Booster system, using several dedicated micro-batteries a Battlesuits wearer could increase the power flow into their suits myomer, allowing for greater strength and far higher ground speeds but this produced a significant thermal bloom and required Elementals to undergo specialist training to adapt to the extra speed as there was several serious and fatal injuries during testing. Despite this, the system was seen as quite successful and was used by several Clans in their own Battlesuits despite the dangers (or in some cases because of) associated with the system.
Attempts to mirror the Cloud Cobra’s Sylph Battle armour’s performance resulted in failure as the Cobra’s were deeply unwilling to share their design and this left the Horse and Coyote Scientists taking different approaches. One of the most successful and more widely deployed systems involved an enhanced array of jump jet thrusters and fuel bottles that would work with any normal jump jets to increase the range of the suits jump. This took some getting use to for many Elementals although the development of the Varpulis saw the Hellions Trial for the Myomer Booster and Jump Booster and win both schematics, leading to them introducing the Afreet which was also deployed by Clan Jade Falcon. But, the trade off offered by the mobility or speed of these systems meant less armour and weapon systems and most Clans preferred to rely on the Elemental battlesuits and this would make up 75% of all available Battle Armour suits in the Clan’s Tourman’s.
