’Mech of the Week: SCP-*** Scorpion
Scorpion. An arachnid whose sting becomes more dangerous the smaller it is. A German 80’s hairband. The Clan of Secrets, who do (and have done) anything to protect the Emerald Empire of Rokugan. A 55-ton quadruped BattleMech that is one of, if not the most, maligned design of all time.
Might have something to do with the short-lived
Xanthos project not ironing out all the kinks…
The
Xanthos debacle was the result of Hollis Incorporated losing their contract for the
Catapult, and rushing the prototypes into full production. Those prototypes crashed and burned in a high-profile manner in 2564, and prejudiced many against the quad movement profile. Head researcher on that project was one Dr. David Harrison, who believed that the quad could achieve greater movement flexibility and would be the way of the future.
Brigadier Corporation in a quest to develop their own design decided to extract Dr. Harrison and try and bring his ideas to fruition. Entering service in 2570, the
Scorpion was received with little praise, even being called a “white elephant” by some. And that was before they discovered that the ride wasn’t as smooth as predicted. In fact, while in motion, the pilot would often be tossed around violently. One definitely needed to buckle up.
Designed for speed, the SCP-1N is built around a VOX 330-rated engine, which with the specially-made gyroscope, takes up over half the design’s mass. According to the original write-up, the design has specially constructed heat sinks which were mounted in the legs, which perhaps worked for that rules-set. Now all ten of the design’s heat sinks are covered by the engine. The design is armed with an Anderson Armaments PPC, considered the best weapon made by that firm, backed up by a Marvel Six-Load SRM Rack. Both weapons are placed in the right torso, with the SRM ammunition placed (by itself) in the left torso. All of this is covered by seven tons of armor, less than that carried by the FS9-M
Firestarter. A little over half of maximum, the layout allows the front side torsos and legs to take a PPC, the center front three large laser shots, the head and center rear a single large laser, and the rear sides can withstand a medium laser shot.
While the speed was admirable, most pilots complained about the lack of protection, the ride, and being vulnerable to infantry fire from below. All of these things caused the design to quickly become the last step before Dispossession. And some pilots chose to be Dispossessed before accepting one. Apparently, Brigadier made just enough money from the design to allow Dr. Harrison to continue his research, which eventually led to the slightly less-maligned
Goliath.
Sometime around 2690, the engineers at Brigadier figured they couldn’t do much worse with the
Scorpion, and decided to look into making it into a Land-Air ’Mech. While admirable, and perhaps even visionary in a way, Quadrupeds and LAMs were not meant to mix. The nasty gait was successfully dealt with, but lack of funds meant Brigadier never got the chance to follow that up. The major problem was the conversion equipment. As in, it didn’t work at all. The armament was the same as the -1N model, but the engine was downgraded to a 275-rated model, though five jump jets were added. Since I still am unsure what to make of LAM’s in general, I will reserve judgment on the entire process. The best thing to come out of the project is that Defiance tried the corporate espionage route, and when they failed to make headway, buried the prototypes on Hesperus II.
It is doubtful that the SLDF took many, if any of the base design on the Exodus, and when the production facility received its makeover from orbit in 2837, no one bothered to pick up the licensing to produce the design. The Succession Wars were not kind to the design, and to add insult to injury, towards the end of the Third Succession War, the Lyran Commonwealth started a program of scrapping every
Scorpion left in their service. One Lyran MechWarrior named Wednall Puritan II chose to leave Lyran service to join Smithson’s Chinese Bandits in order to keep his machine in existence. His PPC was apparently damaged in the Fourth Succession War. Unable to get a replacement, Wednall installed a large laser in its place. The left-over two tons were put into much needed armor, which figures out to five more points on each leg, and six to each front side torso.
As the Helm Memory Core’s advancements spread, few gave any thought to upgrading the maligned
Scorpion. Not wanting to be left out, some enterprising pilots with acquisition abilities created the SCP-1O by swapping the PPC for a Magna Firestar ER PPC. While an easy upgrade, this puts huge strains on the heat dissipation system. There is a slight discrepancy in record sheets for this variant. Most have single heat sinks, but the one in 3085 Unabridged has freezers (which seems a bit more of a chore than a simple field upgrade).
Still maligned and with numbers dwindling from fighting during the Clan Invasion and early FedCom Civil War eras, the
Scorpion looked to fade into the mists of memory. Then fighting on Hesperus II uncovered a long-forgotten bunker with details of a Scorpion LAM project that had been abandoned and buried (literally). Initially uninterested, someone noticed that the chassis redesign solved the handling problems. After negotiating the license agreement for a song, the SCP-12S was born. Utilizing that redesigned endo-steel chassis and a few other components to give it a radically different look (fulfilling the Project: Phoenix mission), the -12S uses an Edasich Motors Light Fusion engine to free up space to swap the PPC for a Class-10 LB-X autocannon. Two tons of ammunition is placed in the left torso, which is now CASEd. Two tons of armor were added, which adds six points to each leg, eight to the side torso fronts, one point to the head, and decreases the center front by three, and the rear locations by one or two points. Double heat sinks were used.
Shortly thereafter, the Word of Blake approached Brigadier offering to help produce a design that incorporated most of the design improvements that Defiance used. An extralight engine was used. Instead of an endo-steel skeleton, the SCP-12C utilizes ferro-fibrous armor and adds four tons over the SCP-1O, bringing the protection to 98% of maximum, which up armors all locations to maximum, save the center torso which maintains its original protection. Ten double heat sinks allow for cool running, as the weapons load consists of an ER PPC and improved Narc launcher in the right torso, and an extended small in the left, and a C3i in the center. Four tons of ammunition for the iNarc is stored in the left torso, allowing for a variety of loadouts. Perhaps in foreshadowing, the write-up on this variant notes that most of the production runs were disappearing, perhaps to phantoms.
Early in the Jihad, the Draconis Combine decided to create a variant of their own, the SCP-12K. Using an extralight engine, the -12K swaps the ER PPC for a Snubbie, the SRM rack for a 9-pack MML launcher with two tons of ammunition. An extended medium and a C3 Master are placed in the left torso. Ten tons of ferro-fibrous provide the protection which adds points to the front, while reducing the center torso rear armor.
Sometime later, a modification designated the SCP-1TB appeared. Seemingly a product of mercenary scrounging, the design uses a 330-rated light engine tied into a MASC system. Twin Light PPCs and a 9-pack MML are mounted in the right torso. Two tons of ammunition are stored in the center torso. Ten double heat sinks keep the design cool.
The final variant is the SCP-10M. Built on the Oliver production lines, this variant uses a VOX 385-rated extralight engine, giving it similar ground speed to the similarly-weighted Wraith. Armor is similar to the -12S, with four points removed from the side torsos, and two added to each leg. An endo-steel skeleton and an extralight gyro free up weight to swap the PPC for a Heavy model, and the SRM rack for a 10-pack LRM. Ten double heat sinks keep the machine running somewhat cool.
Using one of these machines is simple, run and shoot. You need to keep your movement up to make it harder for your foe to hit you. With most variants, if you get hit a couple times, you will be in trouble. (Double so if you’re like me, and most enemy fire likes hitting your legs.) Most variants don’t have CASE either, and carry ammunition in very vulnerable positions. Use lateral movement if it helps. With the -10M keep back, as your minimums will get in the way if someone closes. Also watch your heat. The earlier models tend to be a bit heat-intense. When using the first two models, I used a “Fire the PPC, run for cover to cool down,” approach.
Fighting one is also simple enough: Shoot it until it stops twitching. First off most variants have ammunition stored in the left torso, so if you can target, aim there. The only one that doesn’t moved the ammunition to the center torso. And only one variant has CASE. Next, if you can get around him, do so. All variants suffer from the main flaw of quads, no ability to torso twist. And since none have rear weapons, that gives you three sides to shoot from without any return fire. Note being directly behind one will give him the chance to kick you. Those models mounting C3 are a little more tricky. The primary method my group uses is to close with a ’Mech mounting an ECM suite (or better yet Stealth). The -12K is a bit simpler than the -12C, since targeting the left torso has the added bonus of ammunition stored right above it. The -12C, unfortunately, probably has five back-ups nearby to make your day a bit more difficult.
While still a design struggling against its own reputation, my personal feeling is that the
Scorpion was indeed a visionary machine. Some might even say it is still ahead of its time. Most troubling for this design is that the Demilitarization programs going on across the Inner Sphere. Already, the Republic has closed the Oliver plant. And because of that bad reputation, I have to wonder if the
Scorpion will be on most of the powers’ lists for decommission just below all the Blakist designs they managed to capture.
