The DGR-** Dragon Fire
The Ugly Long-Lost CousinThe funny thing about the Dragon Fire is that it’s never explicitly stated to be a derived from the Marauder. Like many others, I was once under the impression that it was, but careful reading of the fluff indicates that it was a follow up design, and not an outright relation of the famed Marauder. This is supported by the manufacturer data which lists the Dragon Fire’s chassis as the Royalstar ATE with Endo Steel as opposed to the GM Marauder or Norse chassis used by the Marauder, Marauder II, Maelstrom, and Nightstar.
Like the Maelstrom, the Dragon Fire never saw use with the SLDF; an early victim of the First Succession War. Although why exactly two designs ‘still on the drawing boards’ at privately held companies were included in the Grey Death memory core and technical archives on Terra is open to speculation. Personally, the Grey Death memory core must have been the Library of Congress, Wikipedia and the Star League Patent Office archives combined if it actually enabled the things that it did. But I digress.
When GM regained possession of this mech design, they presumably looked at their already diverse line-up of 64.8 km/h 75 tonners and decided they would sell it instead. Of course, the decision to outright sell an advanced competitor (and possibly intended successor at its time of conception) to their evergreen Marauder instead of licensing the design for a cut of the profits or sitting on the blueprints speaks volumes about a myopic management team that is apparently still at the top of its short-sighted game in the mid-31st Century. One presumes they owe New Avalon some non-trivially large low-interest loans as well.
Initially marketed at units operating on the Clan front, Combine and Lyran units as well as their retained mercenaries acted as the initial sales vector for J.B. BattleMechs Inc (JBBMI). In the mid 3060’s, a contract with the WoB incorporating C3i into the Dragon Fire helped JBBMI hit its profit targets. Circumstantial evidence, however, points to a deal with the proverbial devil, as in 3068 JBBMI found itself in a sudden financial crisis in conjunction with a reordering of its shareholders resulting in three stockholders sitting on a controlling stake in the company. Shortly after, all of its Successor State-located plants closed down and moved to worlds inside the WOB Protectorate. We report, you decide: Does the J.B. in JBBMI now stand for Jihad & Blake? Our magic 8-ball clearly thinks so.
Guns. Armour. Horror.BattleMechs are designed for only two things. Killing things, and looking like they’re good at killing things. The Dragon Fire unquestionably succeeds at the former, but the latter is up for debate. What is unquestionable, however, is the effectiveness of the Dragon Fire’s fire control system, as the bizarre geometry of its ‘arms’ apparently doesn’t impede the accuracy of its pilots at all. An odd disconnect is the fact that both its manufacturer’s specifications and marketing materials clearly indicate the Dragon Fire has fully articulated arms, with functional hands. The only reasonable explanation for published photos of the machine must be that the arms have not yet been installed, as evidenced by the gaping socket seen on the left flank of the mech.
Moving at a completely unremarkable 4/6, the expensive 300 XL engine frees up tonnage for two of the best weapons in the Inner Sphere. The designers who polished up this design for release claim they tried to create a machine that reduced the advantage Clan machines provide. Two tons of ammunition give average staying power to both weapons, and let’s be honest here. You really don’t want too much ammo for that autocannon for reasons that will be expanded on later. The gauss rifle and LB-10x type autocannon are unique among Inner Sphere weapons for being identical in performance to their Clan counterparts, despite being somewhat heavier and bulkier – with Spheroid gauss rifles being 25% heavier, and the LB-10x being a mere 10% heavier than equivalent Clan weapons.
With only enough space to use either an Endo-Steel structure or Ferro-Fibrous armour, the designers wisely opted to work with the lightweight frame and just layer on thicker sheets of standard composite, making the Dragon Fire one of the most thickly skinned machines in its weight class.
Frankly, it needs that armour. With its vulnerable XL engine and the right torso being made up entirely of engine shielding and ammunition bins, the right torso brings back the good ol’ days of the MAD-3R’s infamous torso bomb, but now with twice the ammo. Thanks to the CASE system, after bioelectric feedback has turned the pilot into a catatonic vegetable, your techs will be able to slap on another right side of the mech and bring it back into service. Clearly, in terms of replacement parts, right torso/right arm assemblies outsell the left side by a wide margin. Makes you wonder how much of a kickback Mydron paid the design team, doesn’t it?
Rounding out that ballistic brilliance is a cluster of lackluster flashlights. Or in the case of the center torso large laser, the appellation of fleshlight might be more fitting, seeing as how it appears to be hung solidly between the digitigrade legs. The paired medium pulse lasers mounted in the head and left torso (complete with some of the largest cooling jackets known to BattleTech-kind) are present and ready to provide a point-blank lightshow for interested parties.
In an odd move, the designers have included a Guardian ECM system in the final 3058 release edition. I say odd because as far as fighting Clan machines go, the only system typically affected will be Artemis IV. Now, as a machine ostensibly meant for use against the Clans, but might actually see use against neighbouring C3 and C3i-using parties, it makes a whole lot of sense, allowing heavy mech units to pack their own integral ECM support. And we wonder why the WoB bought the whole outfit? Anyone care to guess the odds that Blakist units hitting C3-equipped DCMS formations fielded disproportionately large numbers of Dragon Fires? As a note, for those of you using the Ghost Targets rule in Tac Ops, then the ECM will be a welcome bonus, especially when fighting those blasted clankin.
Finally, the Dragon Fire is actually slightly overcooled in the 3F iteration. While not actually able to run and alpha strike for 0 heat as the original 3058 fluff claims, it’s pretty damn close. The 4F trades up to an ERLL, so your fleshlight now reaches farther than ever, and it still doesn’t compromise heat handling too much. At point blank, trading out a medium pulse laser will bring you right back to the 3F’s heat curve.
For the original WoB contract, the Blakist-exclusive 6FC design was created (although, the astute among you will note that thanks to their exclusive contract, *all* models of the Dragon Fire are now WoB exclusive, as far as new units go. Black and grey market imports are exempt as always). The pulse lasers are dumped for ER mediums, and the tonnage saved goes to replacing the ECM suite with a C3i module. Assuming a 1-to-1 swap, this increases the heat noticeably and leaves a free ton. Presumably, the ton went to another DHS or ERML, but it could just as well go towards a TAG system. Personally, the WoB would have been better off dropping the lasers entirely and keeping the Guardian for ECCM duties, as you just *know* that forces fighting against the Blakists will do their damndest to disrupt those C3i nets.
The most fearsome weapon in the Dragon Fire’s arsenal, however, is neither the cockpit-squishing gauss rifle, nor the versatile and innards-mangling cluster-buster autocannon. Oh no. It’s the horrifying, sanity-eviscerating non-Euclidean geometry of this repudiation of all that is aesthetically right with the universe. Few BattleMechs are better suited for Cthulutech, and few would benefit so much from a set of fifteen-meter long, slimy, armour-rending vibra-tentacles. You can almost hear the few remaining Erinyes pilots screaming themselves hoarse with horror.
Oh where, oh where has my little monster gone?Well, the Dragon Fire has been in production and on the open market for nearly ten years, and only recently became a WoB-only job. The Lyrans, Dracs, and mercs are listed by name as running them, but nothing indicates that after the initial 3058 production runs, JBBMI didn’t start selling to all comers, so you’re pretty well covered for the 3F and 4F models. One other likely large user? Clan Jade Falcon and Clan Ghost Bear probably have more than a few Dragon Fires in the storage shed, thanks to the CASE and ammo bin that is present on ALL stock Dragon Fire models. CASE – The better salvage protector!
We also see some custom designs in the a novel and the new Jihad Turning Points books, and we can rest easy knowing that the JTP custom is likely a case of a Blakist pilot wantonly partaking in all the new TW tech. Whether it actually works well? Well, that’s clearly secondary to signing sponsorship deals for demoing intriguing new weaponry against their original designers.
So what have we learned?Well, the LB-10x and gauss rifle pairing is absolutely classic. Alas, so is the combination of exposed ammunition, CASE, and an XL engine. There’s a place for the Dragon Fire, and that place is for a powerful heavy mech that is ultimately expendable at any time because of that crippling vulnerability. Keep that right flank shielded though, and it should give decent service with its ballistic goodies and ECM protection.
