’Mech of the Week: LMT-XX LamentLMT-2R Lament, Technical Readout: 3145, p. 139
Since its inception the Republic of the Sphere has used the
Prefect as its signature heavy BattleMech. The
Prefect, dependable and quick as it is, sometimes lacked a certain oomph compared to others in the weight class. Thus when Skobel (“
yes, we supplied arms to the Word of Blake and Amaris but we’re better now”) MechWorks presented the RAF with the
Lament, the Republic High Command was quickly sold on the machine. One quiet addition to an appropriations bill later and the
Lament would find itself in the RAF’s regiments. Christened in honor of Devlin Stone’s first unit, it’s not surprising to find a large number of the heavy ‘Mech serving in Stone’s Brigade. Though spotting
Laments sporting Hastati Sentinel or Principes Guard colors wouldn’t be out of the question. On either side of the Fortress wall. The heavy cavalry ‘Mech is prized by the forces of the Republic Remnant. A pair of
Laments, piloted by the brothers Anderson, act as the unofficial bodyguard for Damien Redburn himself.
Four variants of the
Lament can be found amongst the RAF, though they share a number of construction features. The life of every model is the VOX 325 XL Fusion engine. It pushes this heavy to top speeds of 86 kph, on par even with Clan counterparts. Along with this light but fragile engine is an equally light but fragile gyroscope. The advanced Falcon 15 Watch TTS shared by all the variants is worth noting as well. The cutting edge system easily Tracks Multiple threats and provides firing solutions without compromising accuracy. Thankfully all these vulnerable components are encased in all the Krupp 205 Light Ferro-Fibrous armor the 65 ton chassis can support. Such a thick layer of woven alloy protection keeps the internals safe from all but the heaviest of Gauss Rifle projectile impacts to every forward location. Center torso and lower limbs are sufficiently armored to shield from successive standard Gauss slugs. The back end can handle Inner Sphere Large Lasers with much aplomb. Additionally, the molding and layout of the armor lends itself to a handy quirk … er… perk. Anti-‘Mech infantry and battle armor have an especially difficult time cracking the tough outer shell to get to the juicy leg actuators within. Though I’m sure the MechWarrior will be happy to give them a free spine-shortening for their efforts.
While any ‘Mech is an expensive, motionless hulk without its engine, the radical heat sinks system is the heart and soul of all extant
Lament models. Essentially a bulkier, heavier, multiuse coolant pod, the RHS allows for momentary bursts of exceptional heat dissipation capacity. It’s not without risk however. Due to the elevated fluid pressures, the coolant hoses can rupture with every activation. Consecutive use heightens the risk of failure. But what pilot worth their neurohelmet doesn’t like to play it fast and loose every now and then? Should the
Lament suffer an embarrassing line leak, there are both immediate and long term consequences. First off, the excess heat that would have otherwise been managed is still present. More than likely a shutdown override, if not an automatic shutdown, looms in the very near future. Beyond that, the damaged coolant system isn’t quite up to snuff anymore. Movement and weapon discharge now produce extra heat that must be taken into account. Another downside, technicians may not necessarily be familiar with the new equipment and it utilizes specialized, Non-Standard Parts making the ‘Mech sometimes Difficult to Maintain.
The first variant out the door was the LMT-2R and its intent is simple, remove as much armor from your target as quickly as possible. To this end, a massive Heavy PPC is installed in each arm. For backup and ER Medium Laser has been placed in each side torso and the head. The fifteen double heat sinks are just adequate to dissipate the heat from the two PPCs, leaving any generated by movement or the lasers to slowly accumulate. If the radical heat sink system is activated (and the Avoid Failure roll doesn’t let you down) the
Lament -2R can alpha strike and only be concerned with any movement heat. Obviously there are numerous ways to juggle this depending on how risk averse you might be. But I can’t help but recommend leaning on that RHS just a bit. The payoff can be fantastic. If there’s a glaring flaw in the weapon selection of the -2R and any other
Lament variant, it’s the lack of crit seeking equipment. This is absolutely one of those moments that lance-mate selection can be a boon. The dependence on energy weapons also has its limitations. But given the inordinate number of shortcomings found in Reflective armor, I’m not overly concerned.
The next
Lament on the block is the LMT-3R which keeps everything from the -2R but the weapons. The arms and right torso now mount an ER PPC per location. Though the total damage output has been reduced, the reach gets a nice 150 meter boost and the lack of minimum range is also a handy plus. And making use of that RHS will get to back to the same PPC-based throw weight at the -2R with only movement heat forcing the gauge upward. A pair of Small X-Pulse lasers have been added to the head and left torso. Primarily added to give anything small and squishy pause, the do add a nice bit of extra punch once you get within close (read kickin’) range. The legacy of the
Awesome-8Q screams loud and clear with this variant. Just with less armor and significantly better ground speed. Use it accordingly.
Given the RAF’s odd love of C
3, it shouldn’t be too shocking that the long range fire support potential of the -3R was quickly leaped upon. The LMT-3C removes the Small X-Pulse found in the head and replaces it with a C
3 Slave unit. As long as your lance can avoid hostile ECM bubbles, or brings sufficient counter ECM of its own, the
Lament -3C can be a long range terror. Then again, it’s also just a handy way to mimic most of the abilities of the -3R at a slightly lower BV.
Mixed-tech comes into play with the LMT-4RC
Lament making something horrifying to the enemy and for only the most daring to pilot. Four Improved Heavy Lasers are the sole weapon systems, each mounted in the arms and side torsos. The coolant systems has been upgraded as well. Twenty-one (!) Clan double heat sinks now accompany the radical heat sink system. The C
3 Slave unit mounted in the head makes this a bone-rattling point man for such a lance. Anyone quickly doing the mental math will notice that even with the RHS activated, the heat sinks can’t handle the burden of an alpha strike. Once again recalling the
Awesome, firing patterns are your friend. Following up an alpha with just a trio of heavy laser shots, while using the RHS again, will bring you back to heat neutral not accounting for movement. Firing just two of the improved lasers will not only “reset” the Avoid Failure roll, will can bring you leave the
Lament at zero heat even factoring in a full run for every turn. Of course there’s always a down side. To cram all the bulky gear into the ‘Mech, the Endo Steel used on all the previous versions has been eschewed for Composite bones. Factor in the unstable nature of the Improved Heavy lasers with this more brittle structure and the -4RC will rapidly crumble once the armor start to develop holes. But oh the merry havoc you’ll sow until then.
The Master Unit List has
entries available these days. Unfortunately, since Ironwind doesn’t quite have a mini available, there’s no shining examples of CSO goodness to point to.
The design evolved a bit from the initial stages. I had looked to the
Prefect as inspiration, hoping to offer a more offensive minded little brother. Some components it would have serendipitously shared with the
Doloire were eventually scrapped after jymset suggested “brownie points for using the radical HS”. I quickly fell in love with the idea of being able of offer a sizable knockdown salvo balance by the risk of failure heaping horrible consequences upon the unlucky. While the base chassis wasn’t altered, the final equipment load out was built around the RHS. The variants came about after some back and forth between jymset, Paul
[jymset: That Sick Expletive], and myself. The -4RC specifically was born out of Paul taking a mixed tech suggestion I made and running with it down the down the halls of madness. To which I heartily approved. One of the early ideas bandied about was to have the
Lament be the first production example, if not the test bed, for the radical heat system. While that concept was ultimately dropped for reasons, you’ll notice that there’s only two other instances of the RHS in entire
TRO: 3145 series. Not counting the NTNU section of course. The
Lament does predate both the AS7-D3
Atlas III and the DLR-OA
Doloire, so that little nugget didn’t entirely die.
