Mechs or Tanks with Drone Weapons

[DarthRads]

Could this work?

Think the dragoon system from GUNDAM where weapon pods detatch and move semi-autonomously thus greatly increasing range/angle of attack.

Imagine a heavy mech with some integral weapons and some drone (say 3xMed Pulse laser drones). Yes their is a weight penalty and it might not be as effective as a standard mech, but think of the advantages. Thos M-pulse drones could harrass as you approach or even attack from the rear while you launch a frontal assault...

[Liam's Ghost]

I feel I need to bust this baby out:

Killwasp:

VTOL (small)
Tech Level: E
Mass: 100 kg

Base Chassis: 0.2
Chassis Mods: Ultralight (0.5)
Tech Modifier: 0.85
Chassis Mass: 9 kg

Base Engine: 0.002
Movement: 6/9
Movement factor: 40
Plant Type: Fuel Cell (0.9)
Engine Mass: 8 kg
Fuel: 2 kg (1667 km range)

Armor: None

Gear:
Smart Robotic System
Avanced Fire Control 6 kg
Semi-portable machinegun 20 kg
Semi-portable MG ammo (240) 12 kg
Semi-portable support laser 40 kg
Semi-portable laser power (21) 3 kg

Any hit will kill it and it will only do a couple points of damage at best, but it weighs only about as much as an infantryman, is a vtol, and is fully autonomous.

Something like that?

[evilauthor]

I feel I need to bust this baby out:

Killwasp:

VTOL (small)
Tech Level: E
Mass: 100 kg

Any hit will kill it and it will only do a couple points of damage at best, but it weighs only about as much as an infantryman, is a vtol, and is fully autonomous.

Something like that?

Nice. And if you can pack them as ammo, that gets you 10 for 1 ton.  Everyone of these you "fire" could mean potentially fewer guns shooting at YOU and even targeting penalties from the other guy as he tries to split fire to kill these things. :D

Hmm... how much damage can these inflict, and how long can they inflict them for?

[DarthRads]

I was thinking Micro Lasers or something, but yeah, this is a pretty good idea...

[wartang]

Equiping them with a anti missile system would be anoying

[Marwynn]

Don't Drones need 0.5 tons of sensor equipment? There's 10% for the system itself, but 500 kg for the necessary sensor/comm gear. (p306, TO)

[Liam's Ghost]

The killwasp uses the smart robotic control system in ISP 2 (and Jihad: Terra) rather than the standard drone rules. Smart robotic drones don't need any extra equipment. For units under 10 tons, they don't require any extra mass at all.

Of course this also makes them extreme lostech that would only be available to the Blakists (perhaps Comstar as well) or Star League.

[Marwynn]

Ahh, that explains that then, thanks. I suppose it not susceptible to ECM?

[DarthRads]

The killwasp uses the smart robotic control system in ISP 2 (and Jihad: Terra) rather than the standard drone rules. Smart robotic drones don't need any extra equipment. For units under 10 tons, they don't require any extra mass at all.

Of course this also makes them extreme lostech that would only be available to the Blakists (perhaps Comstar as well) or Star League.

That's what I thought they should be...the most cutting edge mech weapon to date!

Well, maybe not the most...but still highly experimental.

[Liam's Ghost]

Ahh, that explains that then, thanks. I suppose it not susceptible to ECM?

It would depend on the specific variant I suppose. The version of the smart robotic system in ISP2 is very susceptible to ECM (some will shut down, some will just keep moving in the same direction, some will go nuts and shoot at anything that moves. The fluff mentions an improved version developed by the League, but doesn't give any details). The variant in Jihad:Terra handles ECM better, but it's geared specifically to aerospace assets. The Word of Blake is supposed to have complete knowledge of the League smart robotic system, but I don't know for certain if they would have an improved system available for ground units in a "canon heavy" setting.

Though it's certainly a possibility.

[truetanker]

Liam? Have you made any more variants besides the VTOL Killwasp? I'd love to know if there is more to these...

TT

[BlazingSky]

Well the Hi-Scout drone carrier from TRO: 3026 obviously had drones, but they were scout units, and built with fractional accounting. As well as the drones being unarmed, but hey, remote controlled bombs! :D

[truetanker]

Suicide sleds more like it.

PathTrack carring .5 tons of MG ammo instead of sensors going 8/12...

TT

[Liam's Ghost]

Liam? Have you made any more variants besides the VTOL Killwasp? I'd love to know if there is more to these...

TT

Not at the moment.

[Jackmc]

It should be noted that unless a unit has the Smart Cotnrol system, a drone in BT is actually an RPV requiring an operator at a control station rather than autonmous unit.

-Jackmc

[idea weenie]

Ahh, that explains that then, thanks. I suppose it not susceptible to ECM?

That's the annoying part.  Too bad we can't include a control line that tells the drone to exit the range of an ECM bubble.  Unless the ECM is actually causing feedback errors in the hardware (like a magnet next to a CRT), which seems a more likely explanation.