From The Wars of Reaving
Here we are, ladies and gents, with the last Society ProtoMech known to-date: The Boggart. We’ve already taken a look at two different "firsts"; there was the Basilisk Quad, which was the first Quad ProtoMech, and there was the Hobgoblin, the first Ultraheavy. And while they both were able to fit into two anti-Clan roles within the Society arsenal, the Boggart filled a third. And trust me, the Boggart is a piece of art. It comes in at a solid 13 tons - a powerful contender in the Ultraheavy category. The quad chassis also lets it use an 80-rated engine at higher levels of efficiency; your standard biped would use it to move at 4/6, while the Boggart manages a more nimble 5/8 ground speed. The five jump jets give it even more mobility, and you end up with a unit that already has 750 kg more kilograms to play around with than a 4/6/5 biped (or 1000 kg more than a 5/8/5 one).
BOGGART
INTRO: 3072
FACTIONS: Coyotes, The Society
WEAPONS: Plasma Cannon (10 shots)
ARMOR INTERNAL
(6) (3)
/ \ / \ Legs -> Cored: 56 pts
/ 16 \ / 13 \ Torso -> Cored: 29 pts
| | | | | | Legs -> Destroyed: 27 pts
( 14 ) ( 13 )
MG: 3 MG: 2
The concentration of the armor is important enough to warrant discussion. You’ve got a 16/36 chance of hitting the Torso on the Boggart, along with a 14/36 chance of hitting the Legs and a 1/36 chance of hitting the Head or Main Gun. That means that your two key locations *have* to be well armored - they’re going to be hit a lot. The Boggart accomplishes this fairly well, for the armor it has. It’s undeniably light for its weight, but more than respectable when contextualized with the armor of all of the pre-Reaving ProtoMechs out there. And frankly, I think that this concentration of armor makes the Boggart more survivable, not less. The lack of fragile arms reduces the chance of getting an unlucky knock-out, while the Main Gun will keep its accuracy in many more scenarios.
But there’s one real thing that makes the Boggart as unique as it is: its Plasma Cannon. Plasma Cannons are interesting weapons for ProtoMechs - not only do you have to pay for their fairly hefty weight (3000 kg on a ProtoMech is nothing to sneeze at), but you *also* have to invest in their heavy ammo (100 kg per shot) *AND* enough heat sinks to dispel the weapon heat (or an additional 1750 kg). Thus, the Boggart put a total of 5750 kg towards a single weapon system...an insane amount, but there’s no getting around it.
You see, your options for causing heat build-up are limited as a ProtoMech. You really have three viable options; the first (and lightest) is to use a inferno-heavy payload. The second, and much less efficient option, is to go the route of (vehicular) flamers. These have huge heat sink or ammo demands, and so typically won’t be worth their weight. That leaves us with the Plasma Cannon, a weapon system that has a distinct and powerful range advantage over what infernos can ever hope to reach. So there’s a reason to take the Plasma Cannon, a niche of sorts. But is it worth it?
My answer: definitely. Inexperienced ‘Mechwarriors will consider Boggarts to be low-priority targets, ignoring them to shoot at whatever has the big guns. But a single Un of Boggarts can be a disproportionate threat towards entire Stars of enemy ‘Mechs - especially when those ‘Mechs start holding back on their firepower for fear of shutting down and dying to quick headcaps. There are a few unfortunate downsides to the weapon, though. You lose the insta-gib ability that Infernos can use to intimidate Battle Armor and ProtoMechs; the Plasma Cannon's 3d6 damage is still a hefty punch, but when spread around 5-point clusters it really isn’t all that special for its 5750 kg entry fee (to put things in perspective, the Sprite puts a total of 6000 kg towards its four LRM-5s and ammo…giving it a somewhat similar damage output at better ranges). With this in mind, I’d reserve the Boggart for anti-mech use.
BV is expensive, so make sure you get the most out of its specialization. Throwing it to die as a line trooper is the worst way you can hope to use the Boggart; in fact, I would say that ideal usage should see it burn through its entire ammo reserves before pulling back and fighting another day. It is a force multiplier; cheap for what it can do, but good at it.
BOGGART
INTRO: 3072
FACTIONS: Coyotes, The Society
WEAPONS: Medium Pulse Laser
ARMOR INTERNAL
(5) (3)
/ \ / \ Legs -> Cored: 74 pts
/ 25 \ / 13 \ Torso -> Cored: 38 pts
| | | | | | Legs -> Destroyed: 36 pts
( 23 ) ( 13 )
MG: 5 MG: 2
The only variant we have is the Boggart 2. It’s quite easy to sum up: it’s the best ProtoTrooper we’ve had in the game so far. The Roc, Delphyne, Gorgon 2…they all yield to what is possibly the most terrifying combination of speed, firepower and armor to ever be put together on a single ProtoMech chassis. If you read my first ProtoMech Force Selection article, you would have noticed that the Boggart 2 is the only ProtoMech that fell into the “high armor, high speed” category - its armor is only surpassed by the Svartalfa and Sprite Protos, while its jumping speed can only be touched by the considerably weaker Satyr 2. The fact the Boggart 2 is a holepuncher, well, it's just the icing on the cake.
You obviously have to pay a good amount of BV for the unit, but it’s honestly not that bad. 490 BV, for a unit that can hit a +4 movement modifier every turn, has a 1/9 chance of dodging any shots that do hit, can tank 3 ER Medium hits to *both* its Torso and Legs, and has a Medium Pulse Laser…is worth it. Boggarts can dismantle any other ProtoMech in the game, not to mention what full Uns of them can do to enemy Light ‘Mechs. If you have a bit of patience, they can wipe out Elemental Points. And three of the things that usually counter ProtoMechs fairly well (infernos, mines and concentrated artillery) will be much less effective against it. It seriously is *that* good a Trooper, and neatly fills the role of a front-line combatant in Society forces. Using them alongside your standard Boggart is a powerful combo. The standard Boggarts force ‘Mech targets to overheat and (potentially) shut down, while the Boggart 2s use their impressive speed to move into close range and get a easy aimed shots (made easier via the pulse) on their foe.
There Boggart meshes well with other Society ProtoMechs. The Wars of Reaving sourcebook gives us the canon example of using them alongside Sprites (which I’m less than enthusiastic about, to be honest), but the rest of the Society arsenal works just as well. Don’t worry - next week I'll be taking a break from my PotW series to look at ProtoMechs and The Society. I'll be taking a more in-depth look at partners for the Boggart at that time, but for now, I’m sure you can see the potential - push a target up the heat scale, then send in units that can take advantage of the slowed/less-accurate/shutdown 'Mech. We’re incredibly lucky to have an miniature of the Boggart - and it’s one heck of a piece of work. I’d consider it a necessity to have at least three for any Society force; using them as your heat-dealers will allow you to dedicate your remaining forces towards other roles. So really, you have no excuse to *not* try the Boggart. It's even in Megamek, for crying out loud! Go give it a shot.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
IWM:
http://ironwindmetals.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=8838MUL:
http://masterunitlist.info/Unit/Filter?Name=boggartCamoSpecs:
http://camospecs.com/MiniList.asp?Action=Detail&ID=1582