’Mech of the Week: BMB-*** Bombard

[Kotetsu]

The Bombard. A design with a movement profile akin to the much-maligned UrbanMech and the Annihilator. Described as being designed with neither speed nor survivability in mind, the Bombard carries firepower that would make an assault pilot soil himself.

Don’t believe me? Ask the poor pilots who had one show up behind them.

(Yes, double blind and hidden unit scenarios can suck.)

First appearing in the 1992 Update Flier, the BMB-010 Bombard is a design which can inspire praise or mockery. More often, the latter. The praise comes from its weapons load: twin Class-20 autocannons. A sudden double-tap will ruin anyone’s day. Even better, the arms can flip and place those guns in the face of anyone that manages to get behind it (which is almost everyone).

The movement profile is the primary source of the mockery. When the Behemoth tank doesn’t have to worry much about keeping up, speed is not your strong suit. Survivability is another place where scorn is heaped upon this machine. While the armor isn’t bad, being only 9 points off max, the ammunition for the autocannons is not CASEd. And there are ten shots per gun. Add to that the extralight engine, and this machine has not long to live once it does show itself.

Mounting ten single heat sinks (though the original was stated to carry doubles, they couldn’t fit crit-wise), and using endo-steel to fit everything into the design, the Bombard is packed to the gills. Such that aside from dropping a ton of ammo and adding CASE, there is little that can be done to improve this model.

After the prototype met its doom (originally to a Marauder, though 3055 Upgrade names the assailant as a Wolfhound), the designers at Solaris Arms decided to try and revamp the design. The BMB-013 is a different take on the design, giving it more reach and survivability. Thunderbolt-15s replaced the autocannons, and each launcher has 3 tons of ammo dedicated to them. Two extended-range mediums are also added, as is CASE. However, the design still uses an extralight engine, and ten single heat sinks. It also uses spikes which are only useful when ramming, or being rammed.

The final variant is one that addresses the speed issue. The BMB-1X uses a superlight engine to up the movement profile to around that of a Hunchback, though with a supercharger for even higher bursts of speed. Its weaponry has been repurposed to twin Clan-tech Gauss rifles, with one ton for each gun. It also carries three M-Pods, which at least give it some in-close defense. However, it does not use CASE.

Using one effectively is simple: pick a target in range and shoot it. Hope for headshots, or that someone turns their back at an inopportune moment. Using the BMB-010 as a hidden unit, or in a double-blind in enclosed spaces. The others do like a bit more range. No matter which version you use, expect to lose your ’Mech at some point. Luck only goes so far.

As for fighting one, keep out of its optimum range and pound it to scrap with concentrated fire. All of the variants have extremely powerful weapons that can punch holes in many places, as well as headcap you. If you have a targeting computer, consider locking onto a side torso. All of them use engines that will shut them down if they lose a torso, and the original version carries two tons of class-20 ammunition without CASE.

[Moonsword]

The original is, basically, someone's attempt to make a cut-size Demolisher 'Mech.  While CASE is a common failing, the Demolisher has the excuse of living in a time when CASE didn't exist, but is faster, at least as survivable, and widely respected, even feared.  The Bombard... isn't.

The BMB-013 is a little more acceptable but still not really a good idea.  The spikes are, frankly, useless in most situations and the mobility is a joke but the firepower is eye-opening.  It's... well, it's bad, but I'd honestly like to put one on a table to see what happened, y'know?

I have a deep-seated dislike of XXLFEs mainly related to sticker shock but also based on the ridiculous number of crits they occupy, so right out of the gate the BMB-1X is already not scoring well.  I have a strong love of Gauss rifles, but this is really not a design I'd use with any enthusiasm.  The Sun Cobra was a case in point of how much firepower twin Gauss designs bring down on their heads and that XXLFE means it simply doesn't have the stamina to compete, although at least it isn't dealing with a largely Clantech environment.  The ammo would ordinarily bother me but, frankly, I'm not sure it's going to live long enough to matter.

[Iron Mongoose]

Its a perfict example of Solaris design, and in that sense it fits its billing perfictly.  But, its also almost useless.  Its got no hope of being able to close with any mech, so the only way to employ it in in a situation where your opponent can't help but be in range, so either an ambush as Kotetsu discribes, or in a city or arena where there is no line of sight beyond six or even three hexes.  If you have no choice but to wade into range and slug it out, one shudders at the prospect, though any mech with even a moderate amount of speed can run to the rear and gain and advantage in that way. 

I'm not a T-Bolt fan, so I'd probably pass on the 013, though its a lot more usable to have to face down.  The 1X, I don't mind because in the context the price tag is not a huge factor, so we can skip to looking at usability, and I think it comes through.  It hits hard, its reasonably nimble, and its still got plenty of armor, so it can take a hit or two before crits become a huge factor.  I don't know that an XXL is so much worse than an XL anyway, since torso distruction is more common for me to see than a live torso and a critted out engine, on an XL or XXL, or anything else.  You'd suffer against a new King Crab or an Arctic Wolf, sure, but against an old King Crab or a Sun Cobra or whatever, you'd be laughing all the way to the bank (where you'd be going to get cash for a new engine, since any of thouse mechs would stomp all over you).

[IndyRI]

Such a funny little design. Like the majority of the Solaris designs, the Bombard really makes no sense out of the context of a Solaris arena, using Solaris rules. It's too slow for your average battlefield, or really any campaign situation where its lancemates aren't an Annihilator and an Urbie. It's painfully undersurvivable given the amount of firepower it's going to take. It has spikes even though it has nowhere near the speed necessary to charge.

Overall, the Bombard approaches Aquagladius levels of unusability. Like Kotetsu said, hoping for an ambush in a cramped environment is really the best you can hope for with the vanilla version. It can work decently in an urban environment, but the lack of jump jets means that most mechs can simply avoid it until theey are able to get the advantage of range and/or cover. It can drop an assault mech's worth of damage on an enemy mech, but even without lower arm actuators you'll be hard pressed to get in position to use it.

The BMB-013 is definitely a step in the right direction. Still slow, but the Thunderbolts offer much better range with that damage, which is vital in most situations for a mech this slow. CASE was added, so survivability is at least moderately higher for campaign purposes. The medium lasers also offer some benefits in battelfield endurance, but they will come into play so rarely that you could very easily have done without them, especially in light of the single heat sinks. The main disadvantage of this varient is the extreme vulnerability to AMS. Any mech with one is going to be able to dismantle a Bombard in a round or two, without fear. While AMS's aren't that common, they're present on enough designs to give me pause when investing in a weapons system as large as Thunderbolts. I did have the opportunity to take one of these out in a company-sized battle recently. By turn two it was standing in level one water with it's armor shredded too much to risk doing anything but sitting in partial cover and firing away. It survived the battle (I won), but was too slow to get in optimum range before getting shredded, and contributed (maybe) a single Thunderbolt hit the whole game. Not the best endorsement ever.

As for the BMB-1X, I'm with IM in really not having any issuees with XXLE's outside of campaign play. The cost really isn't an issue, and if you're already going XLE to make your side torsos vulnerable, you might as well go whole hog. Rarely will a mech suffer enough crit chances in a single turn that your engine will be cored out before the whole torso goes, so oftentimes survivability is virtually identical to XLE designs. And while the unCASEd GRs can be problematic, they're still relatively minor compared to the problems of the other models. It's still not a quick design, and Clan Gauss grabs attention and fire to any design it has, but with the range on those babies, you should be able to at least survive long enough to make yourself known. Still a deathtrap, but a potent and usable deathtrap now. The first of the line to be so, in fact.

[Moonsword]

My dislike is not entirely cold and calculating.  Solaris is one of the places I really don't mind seeing them come up occasionally... but I still don't think they're terribly effective solutions because of the crits.  I've seen enough engines critted out to be leery of hanging that kind of giant "Kick me here!" sign out and disabling via crit-storm is a viable solution sometimes.  IS XLFEs are really about as far as I care to run my risks in that regard, particularly with the sheer price of the XXLFE.  Note: The Gauss rifles, which are not sitting next to the engine, really are not that big a deal to me.  I'm kind of curious what it does but it really doesn't appeal to me.

On a line machine where someone is theoretically paying for these things in volume, they really don't make a lot of sense, and the capabilities they buy outside of very narrow niches simply don't justify themselves in the production expense.

[IndyRI]

My dislike is not entirely cold and calculating.  Solaris is one of the places I really don't mind seeing them come up occasionally... but I still don't think they're terribly effective solutions because of the crits.  I've seen enough engines critted out to be leery of hanging that kind of giant "Kick me here!" sign out and disabling via crit-storm is a viable solution sometimes.  IS XLFEs are really about as far as I care to run my risks in that regard, particularly with the sheer price of the XXLFE.  Note: The Gauss rifles, which are not sitting next to the engine, really are not that big a deal to me.  I'm kind of curious what it does but it really doesn't appeal to me.

On a line machine where someone is theoretically paying for these things in volume, they really don't make a lot of sense, and the capabilities they buy outside of very narrow niches simply don't justify themselves in the production expense.

Well if we're talking price points, then anyone not investing in an SFE machine is falling painfully victim to FASAnomics. I mean, you want me to pay HOW much more for even less survivability to get an XLE?!?

[Moonsword]

XLFEs have enough operational benefits I'm willing to splurge if they're used intelligently.  XXLFEs just make me twitch unpleasantly.

Again, I'm not saying this isn't emotional to a fair extent.

[IndyRI]

XLFEs have enough operational benefits I'm willing to splurge if they're used intelligently.  XXLFEs just make me twitch unpleasantly.

Again, I'm not saying this isn't emotional to a fair extent.

I can see the argument. Personally I'd prefer a sturdier, cheaper design if it's my money. XLEs are very useful in a variety of designs, but they're significantly more expensive, for a product that's significantly more likely to need replacing. Which means that their real cost over time is likely to be even higher even in the roles they fill well. I like XLEs for one-off games, but they're certainly not that cost-efficient in campaign play.

[Iron Mongoose]

I will say, its not really a great use of an XXLE.  Using the XXL only saves you a few tons, so you could use an XL and no supercharger, or skimp on ammo, or do any of a few things to come up with the weight.  Or for about another ton, you could go 5/8(10), which would be really quite a bit nicer.  If an XXL can get me something crazy, like 20/30 on a light mech or 6/9 on an assualt, then I'll do it.  For the same speed a Hunchback does anyway, I'll tend to pass.  But, if you're crazy solaris people and cost (and sanity) is not a factor, then go for it.  Just not on my dime.

[Kotetsu]

If anything, my problem with the XXL engine is that it produces waste heat. While I didn't care so much when I started playing (in fact for the first few months no one showed me the heat scale... ever fired the SCP-10 Scorpion's ER PPC while running for ten straight turns? That is supposed to end BADLY), I have gained a much better appreciation of that scale since I discovered the beautiful thing called TSM...

And the XXL engine needs a bit more fine tuning than I usually can stand for TSM... Not that Plasma weapons haven't thrown a massive curve-ball straight at one's head...

[Moonsword]

Ah, yes, the other reason I dislike that thing...  I don't use them enough to bother keeping track of the rules involved, but yeah, that heat does nothing to endear them to me on top of everything else.

[jymset]

The original was really quite deadly in arena contexts. Usually facing IS-tech mediums in confined places, it had a basic advantage: anything really wanting to get through its tough shell had to face the dual doomsticks.

After trying to use the BMB-013 several times, I have come to the conclusion that it is in fact rubbish. The very things that the BMB-010 is so good at bullying will reliably kill the BMB-013. Simply its "speed" coupled with the sizable minimum range means that this is one of the juciest targets a smallish, fastish 'Mech can possibly face. The BMB-013 = ignomious defeat.

But I shall always have a fond soft spot for the BMB-010.