Vehicle of the Week: Main Gauche Light Support Tank

[Moonsword]

Vehicle of the Week: Main Gauche Light Support Tank

Another Brooks Incorporated design like last week's Stygian, the Main Gauche finds its origins in the Harasser's frequent companion in the FWLM, the Galleon.  While the GAL-102 introduced just prior to the Clan Invasion can be a handful in close action and makes a fine reconnaissance tank in my opinion, the FWLM definitely has a point about the way short-range weapons can handicap you on the modern battlefield.  During the search for a replacement or consort to address the issue, Brooks Incorporated produced the Main Gauche in 3062.  The design was accepted for field service in 3064 after some tinkering.  As usual for FWL designs, the Word got their hands on it, while after the Jihad, most of them have been in service with both the FWL splinters and their neighbors thanks to Republic trade policies or the Andurien and Regulan willingness to deal with the Capellans and Canopians or the Lyrans, respectively.  The Marians have also managed to acquire some of the standard model.

Like the Galleon, the Main Gauche is a 30 ton tracked vehicle, and like the modern models, it's fusion-powered.  That's where the resemblances end.  The Main Gauche's engine is a GM 120 fusion plant like the ones that have powered [i}Stingers[/i] for centuries.  A lot of critics have said the engine is too small.  They're probably right, frankly, but it's a weight-saving measure and in the design's role, arguably a forgivable sin.  The armor is just five tons Jolassa 320 arranged 29/19/13.  I'll admit that's pretty thin but this isn't a tank intended for getting in someone's face the way the Galleon is.  Far from it thanks to the Main Gauche's primary weapon, an Atreus-built Imperator Type-II Light Gauss Rifle supplied with a ton of ammo, enough for 16 shots.  That gives the Main Gauche a lot of room to work with.  The Voelkers 200 Machine Guns arranged like headlights on the artwork are good for killing infantry but not much use for deterring anything else the LGR hasn't managed to intimidate.  (Granted, that list includes very little over 25 tons and it probably isn't especially threatening to certain featherweight 'Mechs, either.)

The first variants appeared quickly.  One of them swapped out the GM 120 fusion plant for a 180-rated extra-light version.  It's pricey but the speed boost lets a Main Gauche pace a Phoenix Hawk or Chevalier, or nearly match the speed of the GAL-102 the design was originally intended to supplement.  A spare half-ton was invested straight into the armor to produce a 30/21/16 armor spread.  The next variant kept the original power plant but swapped the machine guns for an ERSL and a C3 suite.  The FWLM doesn't use huge amounts of C3 but they do have some, as do the Word's Militia formations, and the Main Gauche is an effective sniper to add to a network if not an especially powerful one.  LGRs have the kind of reach to let spotters hang back out of ECM range, too.

The final variant was introduced with Record Sheets: 3067 Unabridged and it also oddly echoes the Galleon's history.  In this case, it's the Galleon Maxwell, also known as the “two-squad clown car” thanks to an infamous video that circulated during the unsuccessful prototype program.  The Main Gauche (XL) was more successful in its conversion to an IFV for battle armor.  And when I say IFV, I don't mean some lousy little ERML and some anti-infantry sponsons.  There's a plasma rifle in the front mount with two tons of ammo for a twenty round endurance, backed by a brace of LMGs - two up front and one on each side.  While the limited forward firing arc is a bit painful sometimes, this variant is absolutely lethal against unarmored infantry, tends to absolutely murder any individual suit of BA that gets tagged by the plasma rifle, and will make other vehicles distinctly uncomfortable, making this a unit well suited to the brave new combined arms world we're entering.  Against 'Mechs, they get a 10 point hot and a case of hot foot.  A four ton infantry compartment lets you pack in a squad of BA (depending on your use of the Tactical Operations optional rules) or a platoon of jump infantry.

Overall, the older 4/6 variants kind of remind me of a Scorpion without the turret, but there are two key points to keep in mind: The Main Gauche is tougher (if only because it lacks the turret to thin the armor out) and it has more range and punch than your typical Scorpion manages to boast of.  It's dangerous out there.  Take more than one and try to give the enemy something more threatening (like a couple of Wolverines or even Orions) to get their attention focused on something other than you for a bit.  The 6/9 model is fast enough to actually do some cavalry skirmishing or keep up with cavalry formations.  While the Hawk Moth is cheaper, the Main Gauche is tougher and it's not a VTOL, meaning it doesn't have to worry as much about motive hits or flak weapons.  That can be handy sometimes.  TRO3067 mentions keeping a platoon of infantry or even BA handy to watch the slower models' flanks.  It can work as long as you've got an APC handy to keep them mobile or you have the luxury of parking in a defensive position.  For suits, I'd take a long look at the Longinus, IS Standard, or maybe the Achileus or Phalanx, using the armor's stealth capabilities to keep someone from killing it at range while they've got the Main Gauches flinging ballistic iron at them.  If you're in a Word formation, a Level I of Purifiers loaded down with ERSLs or support PPCs can make a nasty little surprise after someone moves to punch out the Level II's fire support element.

Taking out Main Gauches isn't that hard once you're in range.  Their armor is a little on the thin side all around, especially the flanks, and even the XL-powered variants aren't that fast compared to a lot of light and medium tanks or armor.  Trading fire at range can work if you have the range to do it right.  Otherwise, use cavalry designs or even VTOLs to charge them.  A lance of Cavalries or Mantises can pummel a Main Gauche unit's side and rear armor with light hits and has the maneuverability to get out of the LGR's forward arc.  And watch out for whatever they're probably supporting, or what might be guarding their flanks.

References: The Master Unit List has availability and BattleForce data.  CamoSpecs' sole example is in the colors of the 3rd Free Worlds Guards.

[Jim1701]

These things can be quite useful if you are operating with a fairly deep battlefield and you can keep the main combatants at arm's length.  In my experience VTOL's are its biggest threat.  It does enough damage to be useful but not so much as to attract too much attention. 

[Nikas_Zekeval]

The artwork makes the design look almost like a field gun, and in many ways that is how you use it, a self propelled field gun.  Sit on the edge of the battlefield and sling in hypervelocity steel.  Sort of direct fire artillery, find a good nest and pray no one brought the actual stuff to flush you out.

[ScannerError]

I've seen the C3 model combined with a C3M Skulker and a C3 sprint to make a cheap and effective C3 network.  The pair of LGRs rarely misses due to them sitting far enough back to be stationary, while the Sprint puts them at close range easily.  The Skulker hides nearby, and hopes that it never has to face combat.  A bit fragile to LBX interception, but it's a very cheap network. 

And a fun thing to do with the Plasma model is to load some Ying Longs in it (Capellans have access to the IFV variant).  With the TacOps BV vs BA weapon damage, that combination can frequently destroy a unit of hostile BA in a turn of shooting.  Vehicles that get close deal with enough hits that it makes immobilization likely, and mechs take a solid whack from the plasma rifle and then the BA either try to find some holes or heat the mech up some more.  And thanks to the Mimetic armor, they're rather safe from incoming fire the turn they deploy. 

[Kojak]

A couple years back I was part of a game where a 20th Marik Militia force used a six-tank platoon of the XL variant. One light gauss rifle is something you can ignore, but six of them? Between them they forced a Hauptmann B and Fafnir from the field, all without losing a single tank thanks to their ability to work the range brackets.

[SCC]

Given how lightly armored it is and the long range provided by the LGR you probably want to take this thing Hull Down for that +2 to-hit penalty with the added advantage that can't suffer motive hits (allowing it to run away better) or hit location crits

[Orin J.]

i'd sooner call this thing a light armor hunter than a tank, due to the lack of a turret and the very clear and narrow mission profile. it's lines even reflect the old tank hunters of ancient wars, low profile with most of the visible armoring and the weapons placed to the front. the main gun is mounted for as wide a field of fire as a fix-forward mount could give it, as are the infantry defense weapons but this is really not an asset you want close enough to use those machineguns barring lodging it in fortifications and having it shoo off any engineering crews feeling brave enough to try cracking them.

the sole oddball feature is the large dome sitting along the center of the chassis. while it might be some leftover design quirk from an early phase in the R&D where a turret was planned* that never got removed, i haven't got the documentation on this design's history handy so i won't speculate further than to point out there's very little in the way of room for the design's engine otherwise. this certainly isn't an amazing looking vehicle, but it's a fairly solid one and there's rarely complaints to be had about decent fire support this cheap.