Peacekeeper
Anti-Insurgency Mech or Shiny Toy of the Week?
The Peacekeeper was given life out of a post-Jihad collaboration between the Draconis Combine and the newly created Republic of the Sphere. With the exception of the Capellan Confederation most of the major states of the Inner Sphere willingly ceded territory or material to help create the new RotS state. In the process the Combine handed over one of their larger military production plants on the planet Quentin, Independence Weaponry, as part of the accords that helped establish the new nation. As a gesture of good faith and likely to build up political cache both the RotS and DC development teams set out to design a brand new mech for anti-insurgency and garrison work.
The success or failure on whether they succeeded is up for debate as the design phase got off to a rocky start. Similar to other multinational design endeavors the design team held a large and mutual consensus on what the mech should be armed with. In the Peacekeeper’s case the weapons that would allow it to carry on fighting indefinitely and easily available in their respective states’ supply chain while complementing other designs already in service by the two nations. In the case of the DC the Peacekeeper’s speed fits well with the equally new Orochi. Meanwhile the Republic would have plenty of mechs inherited from different origins that fit the same speed profile. The biggest obstacle, in fact, was giving the mech a name. As with all good DC collaborations it involved a lot of shouting, name calling, and a cooler head walking out of the room with the ironic ‘final word’ and thus the name Peacekeeper stuck.
Capabilities:
The biggest assets of the Peacekeeper are its speed and armor. The 95t mech wrapped in nearly max armor and can sustain cruising speed of 43kph and standard top end speed of 65 kph. The speed allows for the Peacekeeper to keep pace with the majority of DCMS larger heavy mechs. While it has been proven science for some time that ‘red ones go faster’ (and there is plenty of red available to the Combine), TSM was included in the design to actually make it happen. The mech also comes equipped with jump jets that allow it to fly up to 90 meters to clear broken or dense terrain with ease.
All of this of course comes with a large cost both in space and C-Bills. The XL engine, Endo Steel, and TSM take up half the space available on the design that could be used for weapons. Given the designers intended to rely largely on an energy armament though this was a minor concern. The size of the engine allowed for 15 integral freezers which are found on all configurations of the Peacekeeper, which while impressive is inadequate to capably handle any of its alpha strikes.
Configurations:
PKP-1A: Effectively the prototype designs of the Peacekeeper it carries a Heavy PPC, Plasma Rifle with 2 tons of ammo, ER Large Laser, and ER PPC. A C3 Slave allows it to fight effectively at any range in a variety of styles. An SRM-2 with CASE is also provided with one ton of ammo. The inclusion of the SRM launcher is a questionable one given it is 2.5 tons that could have been used to better effect elsewhere. Not that you can’t find a good use for specialty munitions rounds, but it would have made much more sense to put something like an ECM in its place for ECCM or ghost targets. The mixture of different weapons across the mech make of an interesting play style as you manage the weapons based on the range of the longest range weapon as you move into medium range to get the most of out of the Plasma Rifle and Heavy PPC.
PKP- 1B: This is the production model. With it the weapons load out changed to 2 Heavy PPCs, a Plasma Rifle, and an ER Large Laser. The cost was the loss of the SRM launcher and ER PPC. In the end it gives you a mech with a weapon suite that bracket nearly the same across the board making it a much easier mech to manage in combat. The C3 Slave is still there to make shots easier and boy howdy having those to 2 head cappers is better than the 1 on the prototype. Imagine this running around with an Orochi and the pain that is about to be inflicted on you opponent? Expensive, but filthy.
PKP-2K: This machine is exclusively produced by the Draconis Combine and incorporates newer armor and technology that became more common during the Dark Age. The weapon suite is changed around and has similarities to the 1B. The Plasma Rifle, ER PPC, and Heavy PPC are all present. Instead of the ER Large Laser, the mech comes with a Medium X Pulse Laser. The weight savings from that exchange were used to install a C3 Emergency Master system and the APA armor.
Tactics:
Each of the three configurations have a slightly different play styles in order to be successful. On its own the 1A for example ideally want to fight at around range 10 in order to use its Plasma Rifle, but can just as easily find itself a home at range 12 where the HPPC and other longer range weapons will be at Medium range. Ultimately if you want to use that TSM for physical attacks you want to get in your opponent’s face. The SRM launcher should be carrying infernos or smoke by default baring any special conditions.
The 1B on the other hand is going to do its best at range 12 when on its own. Two head cappers with a toss in ER Large Laser or Plasma Rifle is nothing to sneeze at.
The 2K needs to get to roughly range 10 to be in an ideal position when not in a C3 unit.
Weaknesses:
Honestly the biggest weakness of the Peacekeeper is the cost to deploy the unit. With BV ranging between 2824 and 2981 before you necessarily calculate the costs of the C3 that’s fairly expensive for an Inner Sphere tech unit. Other impressive mechs that cost as much or less include your Stealth Pillagers, Stealth Marauder II, and a couple TSEMP configured Omnimechs all are within 200 points of the Peacekeeper. Managing the heat scale of each version has its own art. The 2K is the easiest to manage. The 1A can be governed easily enough using dial down laser rules. The 1B can use the dial down rules, but can easily enough get to 9 or slightly beyond by firing 3 weapons. Ultimately all three of these units cost about the same. Which unit you take is really up to what style you think you would prefer.
