‘Mech of the Week Update (November 2021): UM-R# Series *UrbanMech
Oh, hai, everyone! Guess what! We’ve got more UrbanMechs!
-- Hey! New Kickstarter artwork!Going in-universe chronological order, let’s start with the UM-R90 SuburbanMech. This has a long out-of-universe history, originating in Battletechnology magazine issue #18, before being fully canonized in Shrapnel #4.
In-universe, the UM-R90 was the result of, in 3018, Hanse Davion making an effort to streamline AFFS logistics, and thus curtail the power of Michael Hasek-Davion. How? First, dump the autocannon, and replace it with a PPC. Yeah, I know that the Fed Suns are stereotyped as being autocannon-crazy, but that’s really more of a recent phenomenon in a lot of ways, and a PPC hits just as hard as an AC/10, while reaching farther, and weighing less.
OK, so we’ve removed a 12-ton autocannon and ton of ammunition, and replaced them with a 7-ton PPC. That leaves six tons to account for. Two tons goes to mobility, with the fusion plant increasing from a 60-rating to a 90-rating standard engine plus a third jump jet being added, to round the mobility up to 3/5/3. That’s a huge deal: you’re more mobile in open terrain, a better defensive movement modifier is within reach. The changes don’t end there, though, with two more tons used to improve the number of heat sinks from 11 to 13, and the last two tons going to paired medium lasers in the left torso.
So, let’s review: speed increases to 3/5/3, firepower to a PPC, twin MLs and the traditional SL. Heat sinks increase from 11 to 13. Better speed, better firepower, same solid armor. BV is 773, essentially the same as the PNT-9R Panther right across the Federated Suns’ border, and cost is only 1,690,325 C-Bills. How well does it stack up against its neighbor?
In a test match on random, mixed terrain in MegaMek, four PNT-9R lost out to four UM-R90 SuburbanMechs, though it’s worth noting that the last Panther retreated against the last two SuburbanMechs, one of which had lost a PPC, with the other relatively intact. Key takeaways:
- The Panther has better heat management, with its PPC and SRM-4 together heat neutral before movement. However…
- The twin medium lasers, despite running hotter, do hit harder and, when not fired at the same time as the PPC, make heat management not so bad. The big difficulty you’ll have is trying to convince yourself not to fire both medium lasers and the PPC when you’re around 3-6 hexes away.
- Armor was essentially a wash: the Panther might be 5 tons heavier and have another 8 points, but it’s not that significant advantage when you have PPCs able to strip a single side torso or arm of either ‘Mech in a single shot, or twin medium lasers able to do it in two shots.
- There’s a big difference between 2/3/2 and 3/5/3, but there’s not a big difference between 3/5/3 and 4/6/4.
- Ammunition explosions are killers, and the SuburbanMech doesn’t have to worry about those.
But the Federated Suns thought they could do better in 3045, thanks to recovered technology. The proposed UM-R100 SuburbanMech would increase the speed even more by swapping to a 120 GM fusion engine, famously used in the Wasp and Stinger. Double heat sinks improve the cooling and provide the mass for the larger engine, gyro and extra jump jet, along with another half-ton of armor, arranged 9 head, 11/8 CT, 10/4 side torsos, 10 arms, 14 legs, increasing the Pantheresqueness of the SuburbanMech. The twin medium lasers and single small laser would be retained, but the PPC would in turn be upgraded to an ER PPC. Again, we’re looking at something akin to the latest Panther, the PNT-10K, but with the double heat sinks that DCMS Panther pilots would kill for, all for a mere 915 BV and 2,419,625 C-Bills.
Sadly, the UM-R100 would never see production, but the UM-R90 SuburbanMech would plod on, starting with the Federated Suns, but slowly spreading out to other factions. Strangely, the ‘Mech seems to drop off the radar and the MUL after the Republic era, becoming extinct by the Dark Age. However, if you want to run one in that era, I think it could be excused, either as an old surviving one someone parked somewhere, or a new refit.
The story of the UrbanMech doesn’t end there, though, because Recognition Guide #02 gives us a new Capellan UrbanMech, the UM-R96, which shows up in 3149. Combining the snub-nose PPC of the UM-R80 and the hardened armor of the UM-R93, we have a 2/2/3 UrbanMech with 92 points of hardened armor, giving it protection comparable to a Succession Wars heavy ‘Mech. Opposite the right arm SNPPC is a single X-Pulse Small Laser, giving the UM-R96 a weapon you could use against ‘Mechs, armor or infantry equally well, and just enough jump movement to get your +2 defensive movement modifier. Ten double heat sinks is sufficient to manage heat, while BV is a mere 852 or 1,985,750 C-Bills.
I want to like the UM-R96 variant of the UrbanMech. It’s a fine ‘Mech. However, its deeply-Capellan origins, like the UM-R93 before it, mean it’s exclusive to that faction. That makes it hard to recommend for the average player, who may well not be a Capellan player – perhaps it will expand to other factions eventually, but that hasn’t been the case yet for the similar UM-R93.
The UM-R90 SuburbanMech, meanwhile, avoids this issue: while it started as a Fed Suns exclusive, it rapidly expanded to St. Ives and the mercenary market, then the Capellans, Magistracy, Taurians, and Fitvelt, before slowly winding down to just the Fitvelt Coalition and mercenary markets by the end of the Republic age. That’s far wider availability, making its inclusion in your force much easier to justify, though by the Dark Age, only the UM-R69, UM-R80 and UM-AIV Urbies appear to be truly universal.
