Today, we talk about the Doom Courser.
With a name like that, there's only one faction that could be building it, and you know it's not the Canopians.
Nope, the Doom Courser is the newest heavy omnimech by Clan Hell's Horses, who have recently distinguished themselves by being present. After finally realizing that Malvina's Kool-Aid tastes like arsenic, they decided that they needed to try forging a new path for themselves and part of that was reasserting the original Mongol Doctrine. As part of this effort, they decide to build a new omnimech. A new quad omnimech. Because Clan Hell's Horses likes quad mechs. Because horses have four legs, unlike other Clan totem animals like wolves, and bears, and jaguars and... Hey look a pony!
Anyway, thankfully, they seem to have learned a great deal from their previous quad omnimech, the Balius: by contrast the Doom Courser doesn't look excessively totemic, and it's gone the route of being a relatively slow and well-armored mech with a turret to give it the flexibility in firing arcs that other quads lack.
Okay, let's actually take a look at the mech itself. First arriving in 3147, at the tail end of the Dark Age, at 70 tons, it's a solid heavy mech. It uses Ferro-Fibrous armor and an Endo-Composite chassis for weight savings but sticks with a standard 280 engine for improved durability and extra internal space. That gives it a top speed of 65 kph, and 12 tons of armor leave it one point short of maximum. It's also got a single double-heatsink mounted in the engine, for a total of 22 heat dissipation. With the turret in the right torso, it's left with 28 tons of weaponry (up to 15 of which can be carried by the turret) and 23 critical slots- 11 in the right torso and 12 in the left. That pod space is pretty standard for a Clan heavy omnimech... that moves 5/8 rather than 4/6. It's in a weird place where every other heavy Clan omnimech is either faster than it or has more tonnage devoted to pod space than it (or both in a couple of cases). If quirks are in play it's got both Improved Communications and Exposed Actuators.
With that kind of limitations, it's not able to perform the old Clan standard of loading up on a bunch of light, high-heat energy weapons with a whole bunch of heatsinks because it doesn't have the internal space for such a play. As such, every variant uses some heavy weapons. So let's take a look at the actual configurations:
Starting off with the Prime, the turret has an always-nasty Clan ER PPC and an LRM 20 with Artemis IV, while the left torso has a Gauss Rifle. Both the Gauss Rifle and LRM pod are both fed by two ton ammo bins.
Next up, the A variant packs a pair of ATM 12s in the turret and a Large Pulse Laser in the left torso, giving it a powerful punch at close range while still letting it hit foes from a distance. The ATMs are fed by a six ton ammo bin, and two additional heatsinks insure that this variant only generates movement heat on an alpha strike.
The B variant is the mech's first and only dedicated in-fighter. Four Clan medium pulse lasers hang out in the turret, offset by an LB 20-X autocannon in the left torso with three tons of ammo split between the torsos. It's also packing a quartet of jump jets for added maneuverability and another heatsink the help with the heat- a running alpha strike generates nothing and a jump only generates 1 or 2.
The C is a dedicated fire support mech, with a total of five LRM 15s, four in the turret and one in the left torso. Nine tones of ammo, located entirely in the left torso, feed the launchers. Thankfully, CASE II protects all of this, but it's still going to be rather nerve-wracking when an opponent starts rolling crit checks against the left torso. And while that's sufficient ammo for a quick skirmish, in a protracted fight this variant is at real risk of running dry, which is even worse for it due to its lack of secondary weapons. A single added heat sink means that this is also the first variant that's not capable of sinking all its weapon heat on an alpha strike- it will gain one point of heat per round on an alpha, necessitating that you occasionally drop a launcher to avoid overheating. That will at least help reduce the ammo consumption rate.
Finally, the D variant returns an ER PPC to the turret, but the only other weapon it packs is a massive HAG 40 in the left torso. Incidentally, this is also the only weapon that any of the mech's configurations pack that is too big for the turret. Five tons of ammo are enough to keep the HAG firing for most of a fight, particularly if you avoid taking pot shots with high to hit numbers. Again, a heat sink is added to deal with the heat generated by the two weapons.
Now how do you play this mech? Well, the Recognition Guide entry says that it's typically the anchor for a force of smaller, faster mechs and vehicles. With good armor, acceptable firepower, and low speed that's probably the best way the play it: most variants have pretty long reach, if you can get to a point that provides partial cover while granting a good view of the map and let your faster units push the enemy toward you. Given that all the variants lack anti-infantry weaponry, it's also a good idea to deploy it with some battle armor if you expect enemy infantry on the field, particularly if you're playing with quirks on because you do not want an enemy infantry squad playing Personal Space Invader with you- a couple of leg attacks can easily cripple this machine. You're less vulnerable to flankers thanks to the turret, but you still want to avoid letting most mechs get close.
How to fight against the Doom Courser? Get up close with it, especially against the Prime or C. Snipe the B if you can. Staying out of the mech's front arc reduces how many guns it can fire at you. This mech doesn't have a huge amount of surprises. It's a solid mech, but like all quads it's vulnerable to leg damage.
Overall, we're going to have to see how this mech, and the Clan that makes it, will fair in the IlClan Era.
