Vehicle of the Week: Fensalir Combat WiGEOnly the second combat WiGE in the game so far, a distinction it shares with the Pandion, the Fensalir is one of a handful of these relatively rare units to date even including the various support WiGEs. Short for "wing-in-ground-effect", WiGEs are basically very low flying aircraft that increase effective lift due to interruption of part of the normal behavior of air coming off of a wing. (Those interested in a more technical explanation can
find one here.) I'm going to spend a bit explaining the basics of a WiGE in mechanical terms before delving into the discussion of the Fensalir itself; the full WiGE movement rules are on TW page page 55 but note current errata. Functionally, WiGEs in BattleTech are treated as ground units, not aerospace units, but count as airborne under many circumstances, being affected by things like flak bonuses. WiGEs require 5 MPs to get off the ground, putting them 1 elevation level above the terrain they're occupying (and going airborne), and must move at least five hexes every turn after that to remain airborne or else it lands immediately; note that landing in hexes that aren't clear or paved causes an automatic crash. WiGEs are unable to move backward. If not airborne, a WiGE has 1 ground MP with terrain restrictions as a hover unit and may enter hexes using the minimum movement rule. Similarly to VTOLs, WiGEs at flank can sideslip. Elevation is interesting. A WiGE can enter terrain whose level is one higher than the terrain it's already occupying freely, automatically coming up a level above the new hex, but are unable to enter higher terrain. If descending, a WiGE normally automatically 'sinks' down to that same one level, but it may maintain its current level by expending 2 extra MP per hex below its current level. This extends to buildings - WiGEs can hop through suburban areas easily, although urban centers are going to be more problematic. It automatically descends to the proper level at the end of its movement. Landing is free, by the way. Woods hexes must be jumped over in the "hang time" after coming off of higher terrain except in one special case: a WiGE can follow a road through the woods, but it must follow it exactly while in the trees or crash. Overall, compared to a hover, WiGEs are more flexible about elevations and have some unique tactical options, but they also suffer a few limitations.
The name of the Fensalir is taken from Old Norse meaning "Fen Halls", one of the dwelling places of the goddess Frigg in the Norse Eddas. The basic idea for the vehicle itself emerged from Johnston Industries as it struggled to rebuild after the nuclear bombardment of New Syrtis by the Periphery's favorite
happy people mad dogs, the Taurian Concordat. After shopping the idea of a joint venture around for several years, they finally found a partner in Nashan Diversified. One gem from the description reads that "Johnston wanted an assault-class tank to compete against StarCorp’s Manteuffel..." I'm not exactly sure what Johnston was after there, but someone might want to remind them that the Manteuffel is a 70 ton 5/8 tank. Something along the lines of the Kinnol is going to get a lot farther as a competitor than a Demolisher clone is. Nashan pointed out they didn't have the ability to build tanks and Johnston, getting a little desperate after six months of negotiations, settled on Nashan's existing project to develop a 50 ton WiGE counterpart to the Maxim. The turret was removed, the tonnage went up, and Nashan got exclusive rights for ten years. And then everyone went home happy: Johnston got their assault vehicle, Nashan got their WiGE, and Thomas Hogarth got a new personal watercraft. The prototype arrived in 3083 with full production a year later going to Bolan and Donegal. The next runs were estimated to go to the Melissia Theater and Coventry province.
I mentioned that this is, in fact, an assault unit, meaning it has to be 80 tons, the largest possible combat vehicle WiGE. Despite the size, this vehicle has plenty of speed with a high suspension factor meaning a mere 260-rated extra-light engine is able to drive it at speeds of 86 kph across open terrain, the waves, or even ridge lines if the pilot can find a good mix of terrain. (A comparable engine installed in the
Cestus provides only three-quarters of the speed.) 11.5 tons of heavy ferro-fibrous armor is quite solid, especially considering the lack of a turret, with 60 points on the front and side facings and 48 aft. A four ton bay, sufficient to move a squad of battle armor or a platoon of jump infantry, is the sole remnant of the original transport concept, but given the weapons load, it's a case of adding insult to possibly lethal injury. The main armament is a Defiance Hammerfist heavy Gauss rifle, the same model used on the
Fafnir, and reportedly installed because it was cheaper to buy from Defiance than ship a Johnston Main Model C standard model from the Federated Suns. In any case, it has 3 tons of ammo, maybe a bit short for some tastes but not excessively so, and whatever one's opinion of the weapon, at medium or short range, it hits like a Mack truck. Adding some flexibility to things is a pair of Devastator 7-tube multiple missile launchers sharing two tons of ammo - this
is short to my tastes, but you have enough for 8 or 9 shots of LRMs and 7 shots of SRMs on the same platform, which is acceptable enough. A pair of ERMLs are carried for backup and to supplement the SRM fire at short range. All of these weapons face forward, giving the Fensalir some interesting issues with close-in maneuvering, but no one caught in the forward arc of one of these monsters is going to enjoy it very much.
Somehow, the Wolves-in-Exile got their furry paws on the Fensalir, with either modifications or full-blown production going on at Arc-Royal. Deployed with their Galaxies in the eponymous Arc-Royal Theater and the Kell Hounds, the Exile model predictably takes the original and turns it up a notch. Details are still sketchy at this point as the record sheet has yet to be published but, unlike some of the other units in the book, the end result seems pretty clear. The suggestion is made that this is a mixed-tech variant right out of the factory, using a Spheroid chassis, engine, and armor. It makes a certain amount of sense if you think about it - Spheroid and Clan engines are basically identical as far as combat vehicles are concerned aside from the bulk, with no differences in combat, but heavy ferro-fibrous is superior to Clan ferro-fibrous composites for protection per ton. This seems to indicate that the Exile Wolves are building them from unfinished units supplied by Nashan, in line with Jellico's statements below. One ton was provided from somewhere to increase the bay to five tons, enough to move a point of battle armor. The armament is pure Clan tech but follows the same basic theme. The HGR was removed in favor of a HAG/30 (a five ton reduction), while the MMLs were replaced with 9-tube ATMs and the lasers upgraded to Clan equivalents. I can account for four tons from the HAG/30 - three into the ATMs and one into the transport bay. Given the flexible nature of ATMs and their more limited ammo endurance compared to the MMLs, I certainly
hope the remaining ton went into ATM ammo, giving you 14 turns of fire, but cannot conclude so at this point. This assumes that the HAG/30 ammo is the same as the HGR load, logical enough given that both types of Gauss weapon get ammo at four rounds per ton, but we'll have to see how things shake out. This WiGE lacks the crushing power of the original's HGR but has the ability to hammer someone flat with 5 point clusters. Those looking for unpleasant options to put in the bay could do a lot worse than APGR-armed Elementals, but a full point of Ebon Keshik guards is a possibility, as are (under standard rules) things like captured Ironholds or Coronas. One last note: the Horses have had traders on Arc-Royal before. It's not impossible that they could pick up a few of these WiGEs themselves, although that's pure speculation.
The final variant is a little more enigmatic. Originally described as carrying a fully company of battle armor (64 suits for the LCAF), this was clearly ridiculous, with 20 out of 80 tons accounted for before getting to little luxuries like armor or an engine. Recent errata has brought this back down to earth with a platoon of armored troopers (16 suits), although we'll need the record sheet from Record Sheets: 3085 Unabridged to get full details. Going back to their original concept, Nashan yanked the missiles out. 1.5 tons went to machine guns on the front and each side, presumably fed by a half-ton of ammo. Another ton was invested in upgrading the protection with CASE and another half-ton of armor (probably unnecessary, but what the hey?). Conservatively, this leaves eight tons available, implied to go into an expanded infantry bay. That leaves us short four tons of a the sixteen ton bay required to move a platoon of battle armor (or at least a platoon of standard suits using a certain rule in TacOps). Commentary from one of the Powers That Be in this thread indicates that there is a full platoon there so, as I said, I'll need to see the record sheet before I can offer more information.
Using a Fensalir is a little like using a hover tank. Note that while this vehicle definitely belongs in the assault category in terms of weapons load and armor, in terms of mobility (especially with a WiGE's need to move 5 hexes a turn), it's really more like a cavalry unit 10 or 15 tons lighter, putting the Fensalir into the odd category of assault cavalry unit. Exploit the WiGE's unique mobility options, such as free one level elevation going up, "surfing" between ridges, and the like, while doing your best to avoid situations where things like the inability to go into forests or buildings are going to catch you. But this isn't some dinky little hover tank. It has a big gun, some other guns for fun, and the ability to drop a few of your buddies into someone's lap. Use something with jump MPs and you don't even have to land to do a drive-by drop-off. Maneuvers with a Fensalir are going to emphasize the need to put the guns on target. Slashing attacks where you blow past an opponent and jerk around as they're forced to keep the front plates looking at your fire support can help with this, but whatever you do, if you don't want to spend a turn on the dirt and another getting airborne again, keep moving five hexes! Anything with an LB-X or HAG (or a comparable crit-seeker) should be either avoided or mercilessly butchered because flak combined with crit-seeking is a major headache for a Fensalir. For similar reasons, avoid getting too close to units with a lot of SRMs, especially if they seem to be packing Infernos. All of the variants are intended for relatively short, sharp engagements, especially the Clan model. Don't screw around: get into the area, do the job, and go back to base for more ammo (or battle armor, although that's the same thing to some people). I prefer not to risk ammo on low-probability shots, either, especially missile ammo, although opinions differ on whether a Fensalir will be mobile enough for that to be a concern as opposed to a "use it or lose it" scenario. Chanman has suggested using Fensalirs as door knockers and then parking them with their battle armor to establish a defensive line, an anvil to hammer the enemy against - I'm not sure how well it works personally but it's certainly an interesting suggestion and the Fensalir is tough enough that this is far from a suicide mission, especially if you can plant them properly to give them good coverage of the battlefield.
Fensalirs are one of those rare units to combine fairly good mobility with tough armor. Fortunately, it's a relatively slow WiGE, so getting rid of one of those two isn't difficult. Once it absorbs enough damage to the movement systems to get dinged two MPs (which isn't difficult with LB-X autocannons firing cluster ammo or HAGs - remember, they get a flak bonus!), a Fensalir has to either fly in a straight line or face grounding, then spend five MPs to get airborne again. This severely constrains their ability to maneuver and, if you get lucky, can actually immobilize one facing in the wrong direction to fire. (Ironically, the Zorya, as belittled as it is, can do decently right here, although any of the Fensalir variants can probably slaughter it if they get an opportunity.) Actually killing a Fensalir is more difficult. These things are heavily armored by just about anyone's standards, so bring big guns and plenty of them or expect to spend a while whittling the armor down. This task gets a lot easier if you go ahead and cripple it first. I can easily see one surviving close to a Crockett blast although it's likely to be stuck on the ground due a lack of MPs.
References: The
MUL has all three extant variants. No miniature has been produced yet.
