Mech of the Week: BT1 Chaffee ServiceMech This week’s ‘Mech of the Week article is about the BT1 Chaffee ServiceMech and, I warn you, it’s going to be a weird one. I suspect that’s because a big part of this article isn’t about the IndustrialMech, but about Doug Chaffee, the artist for which it’s named.
When I think about Battletech artwork, there have always been two artists that, for me, really set the visual tone for the universe. One of them is Duane Loose, for his work on Tech Readout 3025, one of the first Battletech books (along with the Tech Manual) I got for Battletech back in 1989 or so. This is also a time when I was taking drafting class in high school, and Loose’s work reminded me strongly of the kind of technical sketches we learned about in class in addition to drafting.
Doug Chaffee is the other artist who, for me, defined Battletech. In the early '90s, my mother worked for GD Space Systems, and I still remember some of their internal artwork and publications, like one depicting a Mars mission. Chaffee's work always reminded me of that style of art, probably because that was also a large part of the work he did outside the world of gaming art.
Doug Chaffee's work didn't just depict a BattleMech, or a spacecraft, but helped give it context in-universe: his drawings and paintings, whether cover art like Aerotech 2 or internal technical readout entries like in Vehicle Annex or 3057 Revised, depict snippets of life within the Battletech universe, whether it's the fall of the last Luxor class battlecruiser during the Liberation of Terra, or backwater farmers working their fields using an AgroMech.
Perhaps that's what I love so much about Technical Readout Vehicle Annex and its revised edition. The art in Vehicle Annex, perhaps more than that of any other book, gives us an idea of what civilian life in the Battletech universe is like. It helps flesh out the universe, making it more than giant stomp robots, Byzantine political intrigue, and warfare ranging from small, desperate skirmishes to massive, worlds-shattering battles.
Sadly, Technical Readout: Vehicle Annex (Revised Edition) is the last of Doug Chaffee’s work for the Battletech universe, as he passed away in 2011 at the age of 75. In the book’s dedication, it’s described as his magnum opus, and I’m not inclined to disagree.
In addition to dedicating the book to him, Doug Chaffee was also immortalized by having an IndustrialMech named after him, the BT1 Chaffee ServiceMech. The Douglas Chaffee of the Battletech Universe was a member of the board for Wakizashi Enterprises civilian industries on Schuler, whose conscience drove him to vehemently push for an IndustrialMech to be built that could be distributed as widely as possible, one that could serve its community not through force of arms, but by being affordable, available and adept at missions like search and rescue, salvage operations, emergency response, or even such mundanities as directing traffic. Even more than your typical IndustrialMech, the BT1 Chaffee was meant to be a ‘Mech for the masses, serving, then “as a tool of humans for humans.”
Jymset, meanwhile, gives us some insight into how the Chaffee ServiceMech came to be:
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So how did the Chaffee end up in the revised edition of TRO Vehicle Annex? In 2010, two things happened: after a few years as proofer and game stats person, I got my first writing gig in TRO 3085, and Chinless and I started revising TRO VA. One of my first writing pieces was TRO 3085’s Diomede and going off rough parameters, I submitted what is now in the book. The TRO was actually also Chaffee’s last major work for the BT line and by the time my writing was done, he’d already created an illustration that unfortunately didn’t match my submission. Thanks to the art Lewis created for the Diomede, that monstrosity lives on, but I was in the unique position (for a non-dev) to be aware of a now unused piece of art.
While working away on VAr, I was dreaming of a VA2 and had even approached Randall about it. Blissfully unaware of his advanced age, I had visions of Chaffee creating some unique art. At that stage, I also designed the stats of the Chaffee—with a heavy dose of reality checks by Chinless, as always—to fold into the project. I share Giovanni Blasini’s opinion of the artist’s visual mark on BT 100% and when I received news of Doug Chaffee’s passing, I was genuinely wracked by grief. This grief immediately transferred into words, shaping the entry we now have in TRO VAr. I presented it when there was discussion of a special tribute, but ultimately we realized we already had the perfect vessel. The Chaffee ServiceMech is a tribute to Doug Chaffee, and my personal eulogy for him.
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With that said, let’s talk about what the BT1 Chaffee can do.
First off, the Chaffee is not a big IndustrialMech. At 15 tons, the Chaffee is smaller than even light BattleMechs like the Wasp and Stinger, but that small size keeps the price down, and the low mass helps keep ground pressure down. To help offset that low mass, the Chaffee has industrial triple-strength myomer, giving it the strength of a ‘Mech twice its size, able to lift objects of up to three tons with ease.
Because it was expected to go into nasty, toxic environments to undo the damage wreaked by the Jihad, the Chaffee needed environmental sealing. That meant having an engine that could run under those conditions, which meant one of the three Fs: fusion, fission, or fuel cell. Fusion, of course, was nowhere near politically acceptable after the Jihad, and besides being too heavy, fission would be its own potential environmental disaster. So, that left fuel cell, which has the advantage of only needing hydrogen to run on, something industry in the Battletech Universe has the infrastructure to support, and producing water in return. Ground speed is good, moving 5/8, so the Chaffee should be able to not block traffic.
The Chaffee doesn't just have its hands and artificial muscles, though, to do work. Like most IndustrialMechs, it also packs equipment to assist it in doing its jobs. First up is its torso-mounted searchlight, handy for any time you need to shed a little light on the subject. From there, though, it gets a little weird, with paramedic gear mounted in each arm for first-responders on the ground to make use of. Yep, it's basically a paramedic response ‘Mech, which is another place its environmental sealing and good ground speed come in handy.
Of course, going to help out in an emergency situation doesn't help much if you become an emergency yourself. To help keep the Chaffee intact, Wakizashi fitted three tons of heavy industrial armor to the 'Mech, giving it equivalent armor protection to the venerable Wasp and Stinger, with a point knocked off each side torso to reinforce the head. This is actually pretty impressive for any 15-ton 'Mech, and only a half-ton shy of maximum protection.
So, all in all, the Chaffee makes for a low-cost IndustrialMech, strong for its size, versatile thanks to its environmental sealing and humanoid form with handy hand actuators, and a bit of extra gear making it helpful as an emergency first responder. The Chaffee's low cost combined with its licensing and production across the entire Inner Sphere aims it towards being one of the most easily procured IndustrialMechs out there.
That got me thinking: we know the Republic cracked down heavily on private BattleMech ownership, and it wouldn't surprise me if a lot of Houses did the same, pushing towards professional non-feudal militaries using equipment owned by the state. After all, that's a trend we already saw start during the Clan Invasion and Fed Com Civil War, with the Jihad reducing their numbers more.
With that in mind, could IndustrialMechs like the Chaffee been aimed at those with privately-owned BattleMechs, as a way at getting them to turn their old 'Mechs over in favor of Republic citizenship, perhaps with the added bonus of ownership of a Chaffee thrown in? Sure, you wouldn't be MechWarriors anymore, but you'd still be piloting your privately-owned 'Mech, putting your hard-earned skill set to some peacetime use to earn a living.
Besides, how much trouble can you really get into in a Chaffee?
Well, if you're looking at it from perspective of someone who wants to use it to cause trouble, at 5/8, you're probably a hair faster than most garrison equipment, but in the post-Jihad era, there are now an abundance of heavy 'Mechs that can match your speed or better, let alone mediums or lights, and you're a 15-ton 'Mech that can clumsily punch and kick like a 30-tonner. That physical strength is useful, because the only ranged weaponry you could possibly carry would be what you could fit in a 3-ton handheld weapon, which limits any potential offensive punch you could have.
Of course, if you're looking to stop a Chaffee pilot that is causing trouble, that's not a bug, that's a feature. If you can run it down, odds are you'll be able to outgun it, even if you're, say, a police ESWAT unit equipped with something like a Wasp or Stinger for dealing with out of control IndustrialMechs: either will decisively beat the tar out of a Chaffee, since Chaffees take comparable amounts of firepower to take down (ie. not much), are a bit slower, lack jump jets and offensive ranged weapons, and even if they're a tad stronger, their IndustrialMech internal structure makes them prone to taking critical hits in melee combat. Kind of like my knees.
The Chaffee is perhaps the closest we've seen, then, to a "Sports-Utility 'Mech" in the Battletech universe - a low-cost "VolksMech", meant to be an IndustrialMech as affordable as possible while still as capable as possible. And much like the VW Beetle, in its stock form, the Chaffee is docile enough that it isn't going to get you into hot water. Even if you do modify it, at the end of the day, it's still a 15-ton IndustrialMech specifically designed to help people, not blow them up, and that's kind of a nice change of pace.
Masterunitlist entry on the BT1 ChaffeeSarna wiki entry