Fusilier Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3145 Federated Suns page 9
The Fusilier Battle Armor is the heaviest of the battlesuits introduced in Technical Readout 3145 Federated Suns and represents the third assault design to enter service with the AFFS. Where the Grenadier and Hauberk provide short- and long-range firepower respectively, the Fusilier's role is to be the anvil, with strong armor allowing it to soak damage.
A little secret here is that the designer, Phulish Albion, actually intended to develop the Fusilier as a heavy suit, which would have resulted in less armor but an otherwise superior design. However, the overall project lead, Field Marshall Jim Sett, who has more than a touch of Steiner about him, channeled the spirit of Thomas Hogarth and decreed that the Fusilier had to be an assault. Something of this can still be read in the write up in the Readout, along with the fact that it was built using parts from other suits, in particular the Hauberk and Sea Fox.
The development notes for the Fusilier contained the idea that it was actaully just a proof of concept, built oversized to allow use of as many off the shelf components as possible, that would then be shrunk down to size for the final production version. While not a stellar performer, this prototype was considered viable enough that it was put into service and the project closed, leaving the AFFS still lacking a modern heavy battlesuit.
Sharing the same chassis as the Hauberk, the standard Fusilier is thus capable of meeting one of the key thresholds of battle armor protection, namely being able to withstand a gauss rifle hit. Sheathed in fifteen points of Basic Stealth, the very same plating used on the Sea Fox, the Fusilier is the most heavily armored suit in the AFFS' arsenal. With the added defense provided by the stealthiness, this can make it a tough target to crack, especially when combined with movement modifiers and/or terrain.
For mobility, the Fusilier has the standard single ground Movement Point, while its jump jets allow it to leap twice as far per Turn, making it one of the few jumping assault battle armor. Part of this jump capability is actually provided by a jump booster, chosen because it weighs less than a second jump jet. While maybe viewable as an exploit, this is fully legal and is only of real benefit to the assault-sized battlesuits, as they're the only class whose jump jets are heavier than the booster.
Unfortunately, making the Fusilier better armored and more mobile than its Hauberk and Grenadier stable mates meant that something had to give, and in this case it's the armament. While a Magshot and Light Machine Gun isn't bad by battle armor standards, it's not brilliant for an assault suit. Both do have the advantage of good range, particularly the Magshot, but the damage is a little lighter than I would have preferred. At least the Light Machine Gun does provide a boost to anti-infantry firepower. With 250kg for weaponry and the Suns having access to Clantech, it probably wouldn't require much thought to guess what I really would have liked to install on the Fusilier! Like other parts of the Fusilier, the weaponry is shared with other Suns battlesuits, with the Magshot found on multiple designs and the secondary gun also seen on the Sea Fox, even sharing the same shoulder mounting. The Light Machine Gun also notably has an accuracy quirk if you're using those optional rules, which can make it useful for plinking those hard to hit targets.
Rounding out the Fusilier's design is another min-maxing feature in the shape of an armored glove. This allows the suit to get a free infantry-scale weapon without having to pay the mass an Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount. In fact, it's actually superior, because it can be used to wield heavier guns than can be fitted to the modular mount. My personal preferences include the Man Portable Plasma Rifle and M42B, with the latter having gotten even scarier in the latest errata due to having gained a burst-fire bonus. This means that the M42B can always kill multiple infantrymen even if only a single M42B is firing. Notably, the Fusilier is unique among the heavier suits in having just the glove, without any form of larger manipulator.
A late variant suggested by Welshman, the Fusilier Upgrade is perhaps of greater interest to many players. Foregoing the relatively modest protective benefits of the Basic Stealth, it switches to the same thickness of Reflective armor. Perhaps not as useful as Mimetic, Fire Resistant or Reactive, this does mean that the Fusilier is extremely difficult to kill with energy weapons, being able to withstand two blasts from a Heavy PPC, for example.
The main gun is also changed, switching from the long-range Magshot to the medium-range Plasma Rifle. One of the weapons that inflicts extra damage to battle armor, this makes the Fusilier Upgrade a good choice to hold the line against enemy battlesuit units or to (slowly) go hunting for them. The Total War errata that allows the weapon to inflict heat instead of damage, as if it were a flamer, is another useful feature.
With a heavier armament, the Upgrade variant did have to lose the Jump Boosters, making it a very unusual battlesuit given that it then has just a single jump Movement Point. This isn't quite as useless as it might first appear. Even jumping a single hex provides an extra +1 hit penalty for enemy attacks on the unit and it also allows suits to jump safely from tall buildings, cliffs and other heights.
One of the main roles intended for the Fusilier is as a sidekick to the Grenadier and standard Hauberk. Lacking the reach and firepower of those suits, it does bring combat endurance in the form of its heavier armor and lack of missiles. True, the Hauberk Commando does mount a heavy gun armament, while the Hauberk II is gun-only, but neither can absorb as much damage and both are less mobile. The standard Fusilier's jump mobility also more readily allows it to operate with lighter AFFS suits, such as the Cavalier and Infiltrator Mk II, plus it both variants can traverse terrain that would block the other two assault designs.
Being a relatively slow unit, there's not going to be much need for finesse when moving Fusilier squads. Just pick where you want to go and the most efficient and safest route to get there and then starting bouncing. Except when in confined space, you're always going to want to opt for jumping over walking, even if only moving a single hex. The automatic Target Movement Modifier from any jump movement might be the difference between surviving an ambush or not. When out in the open, the ideal location for a Fusilier is to be able to jump back and forth between two heavy woods hexes that still allow it to observe and/or shoot the foe. The Fusilier can actually make for a useful spotter, being able to withstand heavy attack while directing fire at the enemy, only using its own weaponry if they try to force the battlesuits back.
Overall, I'd focus on using the armor and what mobility it does possess to draw out fights, allowing time for the somewhat light weaponry to accumulate damage. This will be difficult to achieve against a skilled opponent, but with one that's not paying close attention they could find their units dying the death of a thousand cuts. With friendly forces added to the mix, then the Fusilier is mostly just playing for time, distracting the foe until troops with a heavier punch can step in for the knockout blow.
Like the other AFFS assault battle armor, for quicker movement or long distance travel you're going to need to provide transportation. The optional rule that varies the mass required per suit based upon chassis size rather than the default one ton per suit does limit options. Some vehicles with 8 tons or more infantry bay capacity include the Karnov UR Transport (BA) and Maxim (I) Heavy Hover Transport, while the default rules allows for versions of the Pandion, Cavalry, various Maxims, Heavy APCs, Morningstar, JI2A1 and Hasek.
The Readout write up for the Fusilier indicates that it's not a key design for the AFFS, but given the desperate situation that the Suns currently finds itself, there's little danger that the suit will be discontinued any time soon. Although Salem, the planet where it's produced, is now closer to the frontlines than in previous decades, it's still far enough back that the Suns hopefully don't have to worry about losing the General Motors factories on that world. Of course, we can't be certain how far the Capellan and Draconis forces will manage to push, with the former the most likely threat, but it's likely that the Fusilier will be around a long time. It should go without saying that being such a new unit helps too!
Visually, the Fusilier presents exactly the sort of brooding, thuggish appearance that you would want in an assault suit. Given the size of the right arm gun, I can only assume that it's the Upgrade variant that's been depicted, unless the Magshot has been fitted with a shorter barrel and an oversized cooling jacket.
Overall, the Fusilier is a workable suit. It doesn't have the impact of the Grenadier or Hauberk, with their superb firepower, and its armor has been matched or exceeded by earlier designs. It is the most mobile bipedal assault suit yet fielded, a niche where its closest matches are actually heavy battlesuits. That mobility can give it an edge in the right battle, but whether the cost paid for that edge is too high only time will tell.
