Author Topic: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!  (Read 1414 times)

Liam's Ghost

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Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« on: 29 January 2018, 02:21:55 »
Three vehicles whose only connection is that I picked up the Ogre Miniatures Set 1 and have no interest in actually playing Ogre.  ;D

Jinete Hovercraft
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)
Level          Era
-------------------
Experimental    - 
Advanced        - 
Standard      2750+
Tech Rating: E/C-E-D-D

The Jinete was developed for service with the Taurian Defense Forces in the later years of the Star League era as an alternative for the scarcer and more advanced Lightning. This inevitably invites comparison between the two vehicles, with whichever comes on top being mostly a matter of opinion. The Jinete is significantly better armored (despite an especially vulnerable rear quarter), and its machineguns allow more consistent cover of its flanks than the single shot missile launchers on the Lightning. On the other hand, the Lightning is faster, and its twin pulse lasers offer a superior overall punch to the Jinete's single large laser. Taurian crews heavily favored the Jinete, of course, partially due to its local origins, but also because it wasn't tied to supply lines originating in the Inner Sphere. In order to boost the vehicle's performance, it was common to modify the Jinete's machineguns to drastically increase their rate of fire at the expense of horrendous munitions expenditure and increased wear on the weapons themselves. This practice was officially prohibited by the TDF's senior leadership, but its use persisted throughout the periphery uprising.

The Jinete was one of the many casualties of the Periphery Uprising, with its production facilities destroyed by SLDF forces shortly before the Amaris Coup began. As the Concordat began a long, brutal fall into economic collapse shortly after, the facility was not rebuilt, and the design gradually slipped into extinction due to attrition. This may change soon, however, as the government of the unstable remnants of the Concordat have begun looking to resurrect some of the nation's earliest war machines in order to boost public morale. Rumors suggest an advanced model of the Jinete is already being designed.

Code: [Select]
Weight: 35 tons
BV: 675
Cost: 1,235,617 C-bills

Movement: 10/15 (Hover)
Engine: 175

Internal: 20
Armor: 112
        Internal  Armor   
---------------------------
Front          4     30   
Right          4     24   
Left           4     24   
Rear           4     10   
Turret         4     24   

Weapons      Loc  Heat 
------------------------
Large Laser   FR    8   
Machine Gun   TU    0   
Machine Gun   TU    0   
Machine Gun   RS    0   
Machine Gun   LS    0   

Ammo              Loc  Shots 
------------------------------
Machine Gun Ammo   BD    200 


Stradiot Medium Tank
Base Tech Level: Introductory (IS)
Level            Era   
-----------------------
Experimental      -   
Advanced      2470-2504
Standard        2505+ 
Tech Rating: E/C-C-D-D

The Stradiot was the Vedette of its day, a simple, basic tank that could be found among militias and house regulars virtually everywhere mankind had made its home. Though relatively lightly armed and armored, the Stradiot was generally much more nimble than the typical medium and heavy tanks of the day, allowing it to fulfill a role as the maneuver element of armored formations without suffering the general limitations of hover units or vtols, and its simple design and the low cost of not only the vehicle itself but the munitions it relied on made it a favorite among cost-conscious planetary militias. This guaranteed the Stradiot centuries of reliable service and its manufacturers centuries of steady orders.

It can be argued that the Stradiot didn't so much go extinct as evolve into two unique descendents. The Scorpion tank, coming into service during the First Succession War, could be thought of as a stripped down Stradiot, cutting back on mass, protection, and speed in order to cut unit cost to the bone, appealing to buyers desperate for hardware during those dark days. Though this new vehicle cut heavily into the Stradiot's market share, it still had its adherents for its superior mobility and lingered on well into the Third Succession War until the introduction of the Vedette. Though the Stradiot was able to hold out at first against first generation Vedettes (and their ridiculously overcomplicated rotating hull design), as the Vedette became more reliable, it was soon apparent that it was the overall superior tank. By the dawn of the 31st century, every Stradiot manufacturer had retooled to produce the Vedette instead, with the Vandenburg Mechanized industries plant on Pinard being the last to convert in 3001. Stradiots can still be found among the occassional planetary militia force even today, however these are increasingly either museum pieces kept on the rolls for the sake of tradition, or failing relics kept around because their operators simply can't afford new machines.

Code: [Select]
Weight: 40 tons
BV: 420
Cost: 544,367 C-bills

Movement: 5/8 (Tracked)
Engine: 200 ICE

Internal: 20
Armor: 80
        Internal  Armor   
---------------------------
Front          4     20   
Right          4     16   
Left           4     16   
Rear           4     12   
Turret         4     16   

Weapons      Loc  Heat 
------------------------
AC/5          TU    1   
Machine Gun   FR    0   
Machine Gun   TU    0   

Ammo              Loc  Shots 
------------------------------
AC/5 Ammo          BD     20 
Machine Gun Ammo   BD    200 

Sauterelle Missile Tank
Base Tech Level: Standard (IS)
Level            Era   
-----------------------
Experimental      -   
Advanced        2750+ 
Standard          -   
Extinct       2830-3044
Tech Rating: E/E-F(F*)-E-D

The Arrow missile system has been wildly popular since its introduction during the Reunification War, and even as the war wound down and the newly solidified Star League began preaching peace, harmony, and unity, it was inevitable that the League's component states would eagerly incorporate this new weapon system into their forces. The Terran Hegemony began to oblige this desire in the early 27th century when it offered the system, as well as the Chapparal artillery platform for general sale, but they were still careful to restrict the supply, hoping to keep demand (and their exclusive control over feeding that demand) as high as possible for as long as possible. This lucrative monopoly managed to persist for roughly a generation, until Davidson Industries of Flushing introduced the Sauterelle.

A simple design intended to bring the Arrow IV to the masses, the Sauterelle does nothing fancy, from its petrochemical engine to its basic armor plate and its complete lack of secondary weapons. Its primary claim to fame, in fact, is that it's just kinda ugly. Its broad, low stance provides an exceptionally stable firing platform, but combined with the "conning tower" that houses the vehicle's commander and gunner, makes it look not too disimilar to a rolling bunker. The open missile mount, though highly reliable, looked positively primitive in comparison to other launch systems, and was prone to critical failure when under direct fire.

Looks aside, the Sauterelle proved very popular, and quickly spread across the Inner Sphere. As with other Arrow platforms, the loss of the technology to manufacture the vehicle's munitions proved its undoing. Attempts were made to keep the vehicles in service using a new, lower tech missile munition (the Arrow IVD), however this munition proved disappointing compared to existing tube artillery and was discontinued. The Sauterelle was extinct by the middle of the Second Succession War. The recovery just prior to the Clan invasion initially passed over the Saterelle in favor of other platforms such as the Chapparal and Padilla, however in recent years the Capellan Confederation has begun producing new Sauterelles for use by their home guard forces, where the vehicle serves primarily as an anti-aircraft platform.

Code: [Select]
Weight: 50 tons
BV: 688
Cost: 1,183,750 C-bills

Movement: 4/6 (Tracked)
Engine: 200 ICE

Internal: 25
Armor: 80
        Internal  Armor   
---------------------------
Front          5     20   
Right          5     16   
Left           5     16   
Rear           5     12   
Turret         5     16   

Weapons   Loc  Heat 
---------------------
Arrow IV   TU   10   

Ammo           Loc  Shots 
---------------------------
Arrow IV Ammo   BD      5 
Arrow IV Ammo   BD      5 
Arrow IV Ammo   BD      5 
Arrow IV Ammo   BD      5 
Good news is the lab boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show an immediate latency of 44.6 years. So if you're thirty or over you're laughing. Worst case scenario you miss out on a few rounds of canasta, plus you've forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face.

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Maxxx

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #1 on: 29 January 2018, 19:45:30 »
Those look really nice with the possibility of advanced models to use in any era and for different quality of troops really.

Do you have any ideas for stats of the howitzers in the set? Are they more convincing as infantry deployed artillery or turrets?

Its hard to compare on pictures, but are the two ogres still in the size range of superheavy vehicles or would one need to go for mobile structure for both of them?

Liam's Ghost

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #2 on: 29 January 2018, 21:59:26 »
I'm inclined to treat the howitzers as fixed structures equipped with a long tom.

I think the Ogres would have to be mobile structures just because of all the guns on them. I don't think you could put that many big guns on a superheavy tank.
Good news is the lab boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show an immediate latency of 44.6 years. So if you're thirty or over you're laughing. Worst case scenario you miss out on a few rounds of canasta, plus you've forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face.

(indirect accessory to the) Slayer of Monitors!

Sabelkatten

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #3 on: 30 January 2018, 16:22:00 »
IIRC an OGRE main battery is 660mm mass driver shooting nukes... Soo... Put tracks on a WarShip? ;)

Maxxx

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #4 on: 30 January 2018, 22:58:22 »
IIRC an OGRE main battery is 660mm mass driver shooting nukes... Soo... Put tracks on a WarShip? ;)

That would of course be true if the ogres were to scale :-)
But it looks to me as if the ogres are much smaller on the pictures of the set. Also in comparison their weapons are not much bigger than the ones for the Stradiot Medium Tank proposed above, so I guess something in the AC10 range or at most a Gauss rifle would be sufficient for their main gun to have it to scale.

Just to be clear here, my idea is not to use them (even remotely) as they are supposed to be used originally, but as a vehicle that has the right scale for their miniatures.

Liam's Ghost

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #5 on: 30 January 2018, 23:16:47 »
Maybe small artillery for the main guns of an Ogre. The missiles on the back could be cruise missiles.
Good news is the lab boys say the symptoms of asbestos poisoning show an immediate latency of 44.6 years. So if you're thirty or over you're laughing. Worst case scenario you miss out on a few rounds of canasta, plus you've forwarded the cause of science by three centuries. I punch those numbers into my calculator, it makes a happy face.

(indirect accessory to the) Slayer of Monitors!

AldanFerrox

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Re: Jinete, Stradiot, and Sauterelle, the Blue Team!
« Reply #6 on: 31 January 2018, 15:41:59 »
The first of the superheavy tanks from the Bolo novels that inspired Ogre was actually an enlarged M1 Abrams that weighed in at 150 tons. It had a 150mm cannon as its main weapon and multiple small gatling guns for self-defence.
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