Kopis Assault Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3085 page 13
The Kopis Assault Battle Armor is one of those suits that makes players stop and go "Wow!" when they first see its stats. I've often heard it called the Inner Sphere's Ironhold, another suit introduced in Technical Readout 3085, and while the Clan suit is overall a superior design, I still have to agree with the comparison.
StarCorps were busy little bees in Technical Readout 3085, being responsible for two of the better Battle Armor entries, namely the Kopis and the Angerona. Neither design was their first foray into the world of powered suits, that honor having gone to the Gorilla Exoskeleton found in the Technical Readout Vehicle Annex, but from such humble beginnings, the megacorps has made itself a big name in the Battle Armor industry.
After losing their Longinus facility on Oriente, the Duchy of Oriente decided that they needed to get themselves another source of Battle Armor, and quick. Looking around in the shattered League for possible sources, Thomas Halas, the imposter formerly known as Thomas Marik, cast his eye upon StarCorps' Gorilla plant on Emris IV and approached the company about the possibility of expanding it to produce a combat design. StarCorps had long held such ambitions, however they had previously been blocked from moving into the market, but here in the chaos of the Jihad, they were not only free of governmental obstructions, instead they were now being positively encouraged.
Instead of just copying an existing League design, StarCorps ambitions went much further, intending to build not only a brand new Battle Armor design, but a brand new Assault Battle Armor design. As revealed in the revised Vehicle Annex, StarCorps developed a variant of the Gorilla as a test bed for as much of the technology and systems of the intended Kopis design as they could manage on such a small frame. Even with this, jumping straight into the top-end of battle armor could have left them falling flat on their collective corporate faces, but ultimately the risk paid off and the resulting suit helped establish the company in the field, ultimately leading to the Angerona contract with the Republic of the Sphere years later. StarCorps did have one slight problem with their plans: they lacked the internal expertise to match their goals. Like all good corporations they bought what they needed, contacting Alys Rousset-Marik for assistance, and gaining both a leading Battle Armor designer on the run from Irian BattleMechs, plus stolen Blakist technology, all for the price of some suits once the new design went into production.
Dr Hyram Sundahar quickly set to work for his new employers and by fortuitous happenstance he was able to take advantage of work that Irian had already been undertaking on Assault Battle Armor, which meant that a prototype was soon available. Notably, another new Assault design has a similar background: another Irian refugee, Dr Dafyyd Rou, designed the Marian Hegemony's Ravager a few years later.
First fielded in 3077, and so in time to see plenty of combat in the latter days of the Jihad, the Kopis is a weapon-heavy Assault, that eschews mobility and armor for a level of firepower that can make some 'Mechs jealous. The bare minimum ground speed of one Movement Point per Turn won't get anybody excited, nor will the twin Heavy Battle Claws, or even the pair of Anti-Personnel Weapon Mounts. Some will no doubt appreciate the ten points of Advanced armor that means that the Kopis can take a PPC hit and keep fighting, even if its low agility means that it's going to need that armor and more if it wants to survive the attention its armament will attract.
What really sets the Kopis apart, what makes Battle Armor fans drool, is the two Medium Lasers perched atop the suit's shoulders, apparently mounted akin to the trainable plasma gun thingy on the Predator's body armor. Two Medium Lasers is an incredible amount of firepower for a Battle Armor design, requiring fully half of the suit's mass. Although only a token secondary armament, the aforementioned AP Weapon Mounts actually means that the Kopis devotes more than half its 2000 kilograms to weaponry, a feat only bettered by the similar concept Corona.
Other suits can throw more metal - erm, or energy - downrange in a Turn, but apart from the Ironhold (Fire), none can match the Kopis for sustained firepower. On average, a squad is going to hit a target with a trio of shots per laser, and together the thirty points of damage is more than enough to potentially throw a 'Mech off its feet. Even without forcing a failed Piloting check, being pummeled by so much damage is something that no foe wants to suffer. While more concentrated than an equivalent total of SRM damage, there are enough individual hits that a vehicle has to worry about potentially crippling crits, while many Battle Armor designs will melt away under the fusillade of five-point hits. The latter is a key point to bear in mind against many Inner Sphere designs, which typically have less than ten points of armor, so just two hits are enough for a kill, which rapidly depletes a squad and thus makes the remaining suits even more vulnerable to further attacks.
StarCorps weren't content with this level of performance and decided to develop the Anti-Infantry variant, first fielded a year after the Standard version. Intended to confront Blakist infantry during the drive into the Protectorate, the newer variant is something of a disappointment compared to the original Kopis.
Stripping out the pair of Medium Lasers, the designers opted for a mismatched armament in their place, with a Medium Pulse Laser and Flamer. The latter weapon inflicts a fearsome amount of damage against infantry, but that's not quite as good as it seems given that the suit must get so close to its target to use the Flamer. Many conventional infantry platoons outrange the Flamer and can outrun the Kopis, making the design best suited to ambush scenarios when opposing infantry.
When the Anti-Infantry encounters armored foes, it's going to be at a big disadvantage compared to the Standard, unless it's again lucky enough to find itself at point blank range thanks to confined terrain. The pulse accuracy bonus can be useful against stealthy or fast moving targets, but that's small comfort for my tastes. Personally, I would have preferred to have swapped just one of the Medium Lasers for a trio of Flamers or some other combination of anti-personnel weapons that together mass 500 kilos or less. That aside, the Anti-Infantry is notable for being one of the relatively few suits that provides its guns with additional magazine space. This doesn't have any effect in the BattleTech tactical game, where only missile weapons track ammunition use, but in A Time of War scenarios those extra shots obviously could be important.
Slow moving and with relatively low armor for its weight class, lacking in any form of stealth in compensation, the Kopis is a design that has to kill its opponents as quickly as possible, exploiting its strengths. Obviously all combatants want to do that, but more heavily armored designs can technically afford to take a few hits before getting down to business; however that's not a luxury that the Kopis can afford. This suit is simply one that loves to hide itself inside a heavy building, one that can soak up most of the incoming direct fire, allowing it more time to be able to punish its foes with its Medium Lasers. It can be used outside of cities, but definitely needs good cover and transportation to give it the best possible chance to have an effect in the battle.
Fielded by both the Marik Commonwealth and Duchy of Oriente, the latter have also traded the Kopis to the Republic of the Sphere in return for shipments of Achileus and Phalanx suits. As noted in the Technical Readout, this allows the RAF to field a fearsome combination of Kopis and Grenadiers in their urban defense units. Such a partnership might be a little light on protection, but the amount of firepower that the two suits can provide is staggering in Battle Armor terms and for many heavier units as well.
Like many other players, I rate the Kopis among the elite of the Battle Armor world, alongside such as designs as the Elemental and Hauberk. Other than my reservations about the Anti-Infantry variant, it's hard to find anything bad to say about the Kopis. Sure, more mobility or armor would be nice, but there'd be no way to have such a heavy armament if either was added, and the Kopis' awesome firepower is its signature that sets it apart from other designs. Its powerful, brooding appearance perfectly matches its performance and it's such a clean, simple and effective design that you can't help but love it.
Next up:
- Smoothdavid
- Tunnel Rat
- Vehicle Annex remainder
