Thoughts on the War Dog

[Colt Ward]

Which offers a chance the the Star League chassis had a different load-out than what was produced to face the Clans . . . like maybe a SFE instead of a XL . . . no Gauss Rifle or OS weapons.  Lol, and even armor on the arms!

[Iceweb]

Star League chassis had a different load-out  . . . no Gauss Rifle or OS weapons.

I dunno about the OS launchers not being there on the SL model. 
The fluff said they were hidden and shielded so that you couldn't detect them easily so that they would be a total surprise when used. 
Putting aside the idiocy of such a system that would be known that they were there after the first few engagements, to do that kind of hiding sounds like it would need tech on the Star League scale using parts from the Null Signature System most likely. 

I doubt that the 3055 timeline would have the needed understanding of the tech to alter it into a new design.

[(SMD)MadCow]

Where are you getting your information from?
The sources I have mention nothing about the SSRMs being hidden.

[Iceweb]

Where are you getting your information from?
The sources I have mention nothing about the SSRMs being hidden.

I'll see if I can turn up my copy of 3055 that I remember it from. 
I don't really know how to tell which version of the TRO it is. 

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I just dug my copies of TRO 3055 and 3055 Upgrade out and checked.  It doesn't say anything about the SSRMs being hidden in either of them.

[grimlock1]

Aesthetically its irksome as it looks like a frankenmech combining solid arms, legs, and side torsos from something like a Templar with a pill-shaped middle torso of an Urbanmech or a Hornet.

The lack of  hips is a functional weakness which is further compounded by its weapon setup. It would be possible to simply run around it, so splitting weapons to cover the rear may be a necessary choice..

It's still not as WTF? as some of the stuff in TRO 3055.

The OSs are outdated weapons that added a bit of extra punch in a pinch without worrying about reloads blowing up. Rocket launchers were introduced into the game after those OSs. RLs would likely replace the OSs if the original design was updated.

An OS SRM 2 or LRM 5 almost makes sense. Once you go to bigger launchers, it seems like a better deal to stick with the smaller launcher and some ammo.  The exception would be cases like the Dire Wolves Phelan and Natasha used in the Trials of Position. They both had a one shot SRM 6 because there weren't enough crits to put an ammo bin.

[Iceweb]

Where are you getting your information from?
The sources I have mention nothing about the SSRMs being hidden.

I dug up my 3055 and you guys are right. 
It does say heavily shielded but it is talking about the gauss rifle and the missmactched arms. 

I dunno what fever dream got me thinking the SRMs were hidden. 
Maybe some Fannon someone told me and I got confused. 

Thanks for setting me strait 

[Colt Ward]

I think its in one of the novels, Dying Time or the other one where the GDL is on Hesperus.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Operation Excalibur?  That novel didn't have any War Dogs, though it did mention the Defiance had hidden fold-out guns.

[grimlock1]

I dug up my 3055 and you guys are right. 
It does say heavily shielded but it is talking about the gauss rifle and the missmactched arms. 

I dunno what fever dream got me thinking the SRMs were hidden. 
Maybe some Fannon someone told me and I got confused. 

Thanks for setting me strait

MR-V2 Cerberus from 3055 has "a quartet of Blankenburg medium pulse lasers lurks behind well-concealed fire doors on the ’Mech’s upper torso."

[lucho]

Wow, I was thinking about trying a MotW for the War Dog this weekend. I get online, and lo and behold there's a thread about the War Dog  :o

Overall,it's not a bad design. But it's somewhat hampered by some WTF design choices, to say nothing of the errors in the original stats.

An idea for a modern upgrade: Using the original 3055 entry as a starting point, the erroneous engine weight matches a light engine. Go with that to improve survivability  ^-^

[RoundTop]

And replace the os ssrm2s with 2 rl15s, each. Nobody like a potential 60 missiles in their face.

[mbear]

Wow, I was thinking about trying a MotW for the War Dog this weekend. I get online, and lo and behold there's a thread about the War Dog  :o

Overall,it's not a bad design. But it's somewhat hampered by some WTF design choices, to say nothing of the errors in the original stats.

An idea for a modern upgrade: Using the original 3055 entry as a starting point, the erroneous engine weight matches a light engine. Go with that to improve survivability  ^-^

You can still write the MotW article. In fact, this thread has piqued my interest in the 'Mech, so please do write the MotW article.

[Iceweb]

And replace the os ssrm2s with 2 rl15s, each. Nobody like a potential 60 missiles in their face.

I'm not sure that the mech has 4 crit spaces after ripping out the streaks, though. 
I do know there is room for a single streak 4 and a ton of ammo since that is the mod I made + armor.

[RoundTop]

I'm not sure that the mech has 4 crit spaces after ripping out the streaks, though. 
I do know there is room for a single streak 4 and a ton of ammo since that is the mod I made + armor.

on the 2FC it has: 3 crits free RT, 1 crit free LT,  and then the 2 SSRM2OS taking 1 crit each in the legs.

So no, unless you move FF crits around (which it could), you could move the 2 FF crots in the legs to the RT, and mount a RL15 in each leg, then an RL10 in each torso. It would leave 1T unassigned though. which conveniently would give you proper protection on that left arm. :)

So yeah, better to use 2 streak 2s and 1t of ammo in the torso.