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BattleMechs / Giant Foot
« Last post by Lagrange on 15 September 2024, 16:53:58 »Thud. THUD. THUD!!! The least stealthy mech in existence, a Giant Foot can easily be detected by seismic sensors a kilometer away due to it's standard movement pattern of 300 meter jumps on a 100 ton chassis.
In a typical engagement the Giant Foot starts at long range sniping with an ER large laser backed by a targeting computer. It can continue at this range indefinitely using 300 meter bounding movement to stay out of the reach of virtually all heavy and assault mechs while only allowing return fire from mechs armed with other extreme range weapons. Hitting a target at long range with the extreme movements profile of the Giant Foot is impossible for many mechs which lack appropriate weapons and many others with merely regular quality pilots. For more elite units, this is merely a quite difficult task with chipping through the 18.5 tons of ferro-fibrous armor extremely challenging.
The Giant Foot is however actually designed for point blank high intensity combat. When the moment comes to switch range profiles, it jumps 300 meters closer to the target and fires complimentary 4x Medium Pulse Lasers (and a Micro pulse laser) to inflict initial damage at medium range and activate TSM. After that, the mech jumps to short range and uses 5x Medium Pulse lasers (with a targeting computer) every round to inflict significant damage while remaining difficult to hit.
In it's ideal use, the Giant Foot jumps directly behind another slower mech and unloads with 5x Medium Pulse Lasers backed by a targeting computer, fully counteracting the targeting difficulty introduced by jumping. Twin TSM-activated punches each dealing 20 point hits on the punch table with a bonus to hit typically do devastating structural damage with a decapitation perk.
Several elements combine to make the Giant Foot work well. The Mechanical Jump Boosters allow even assault mechs to jump huge distances while imposing a substantial +3 penalty to fire and fixing facing. The Tripod chassis makes the entire torso effectively function as a turret, negating the facing drawback of Mechanical Jump Boosters and additionally providing a -1 bonus to piloting rolls. Combining this with an array of MPLs and a targeting computer also fully negates the drawback of jumping. The typical built-in penalties in a close attack are then just a +1 to fire from heat and a +2 penalty to punches. On the other hand, the penalty to be hit is at least a +5 movement penalty which typically halves (or more) the weight of incoming fire at short range.
Natasha's Wolf Hawk was the immediate inspiration for this. That's a 55 ton 5/8/10 movement profile with a similar weapons load. I opted for an ERLL over an ERPPC to make the close-in firepower a tad more dangerous and enable longer range (although definitely less whithering) sniping. Relative to those, this design is actually modestly cheaper at 12M while the BV of 3050 is 10% higher than the Wolf Hawk and much lower than the Wolf Hawk 2 (which uses an interface cockpit). For the BV, this seems modestly more potent due to inflicting 25% more damage in point blank attack and having about twice the armor. Although the Giant Foot cannot have an interface cockpit, it seems Enhanced Imaging compatibility is possible. This would provide another -1 to piloting skill rolls and partially negate various penalties to hit.
In a typical engagement the Giant Foot starts at long range sniping with an ER large laser backed by a targeting computer. It can continue at this range indefinitely using 300 meter bounding movement to stay out of the reach of virtually all heavy and assault mechs while only allowing return fire from mechs armed with other extreme range weapons. Hitting a target at long range with the extreme movements profile of the Giant Foot is impossible for many mechs which lack appropriate weapons and many others with merely regular quality pilots. For more elite units, this is merely a quite difficult task with chipping through the 18.5 tons of ferro-fibrous armor extremely challenging.
The Giant Foot is however actually designed for point blank high intensity combat. When the moment comes to switch range profiles, it jumps 300 meters closer to the target and fires complimentary 4x Medium Pulse Lasers (and a Micro pulse laser) to inflict initial damage at medium range and activate TSM. After that, the mech jumps to short range and uses 5x Medium Pulse lasers (with a targeting computer) every round to inflict significant damage while remaining difficult to hit.
In it's ideal use, the Giant Foot jumps directly behind another slower mech and unloads with 5x Medium Pulse Lasers backed by a targeting computer, fully counteracting the targeting difficulty introduced by jumping. Twin TSM-activated punches each dealing 20 point hits on the punch table with a bonus to hit typically do devastating structural damage with a decapitation perk.
Several elements combine to make the Giant Foot work well. The Mechanical Jump Boosters allow even assault mechs to jump huge distances while imposing a substantial +3 penalty to fire and fixing facing. The Tripod chassis makes the entire torso effectively function as a turret, negating the facing drawback of Mechanical Jump Boosters and additionally providing a -1 bonus to piloting rolls. Combining this with an array of MPLs and a targeting computer also fully negates the drawback of jumping. The typical built-in penalties in a close attack are then just a +1 to fire from heat and a +2 penalty to punches. On the other hand, the penalty to be hit is at least a +5 movement penalty which typically halves (or more) the weight of incoming fire at short range.
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Giant Foot mech
Mass: 100 tons
Chassis: Endo Steel Tripod
Power Plant: 100 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 10.8 kph
Maximum Speed: 21.6 kph
Jump Jets: Jump Booster
Jump Capacity: 300 meters
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
2 Micro Pulse Laser
1 ER Large Laser
5 Medium Pulse Laser
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 3145
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-F
Cost: 11,955,333 C-bills
Type: Giant Foot
Technology Base: Mixed (Advanced)
Tonnage: 100
Battle Value: 3,050
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure Endo Steel 5.5
Engine 100 Fusion 3
Walking MP: 1
Running MP: 2
Jumping MP: 10
Double Heat Sink 10 [20] 0
Gyro 1
Tripod Cockpit 4
Armor Factor (Ferro) 349 18.5
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 3 9
Center Torso 31 47
Center Torso (rear) 15
R/L Torso 21 32
R/L Torso (rear) 10
R/L Arm 17 34
R/C/L Leg 21 42
Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm, Lower Arm, Hand
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
ER Large Laser CT 1 12 4.0
Medium Pulse Laser CT 1 4 2.0
2 Triple Strength Myomer HD/RT/RA/LA 1/2/1/2 - 0.0
2 Medium Pulse Laser RT 2 4 4.0
3 Double Heat Sink RT 6 - 3.0
Micro Pulse Laser RT 1 1 0.5
2 Triple Strength Myomer HD/RT/RA/LA 1/2/1/2 - 0.0
Targeting Computer LT 3 - 3.0
2 Medium Pulse Laser LT 2 4 4.0
3 Double Heat Sink LT 6 - 3.0
Micro Pulse Laser LT 1 1 0.5
Mech Mechanical Jump Boosters RL/LL/CL 2/2/2 - 50.0
Triple Strength Myomer HD/RT/RA/LA 1/2/1/2 - 0.0
Triple Strength Myomer HD/RT/RA/LA 1/2/1/2 - 0.0
Natasha's Wolf Hawk was the immediate inspiration for this. That's a 55 ton 5/8/10 movement profile with a similar weapons load. I opted for an ERLL over an ERPPC to make the close-in firepower a tad more dangerous and enable longer range (although definitely less whithering) sniping. Relative to those, this design is actually modestly cheaper at 12M while the BV of 3050 is 10% higher than the Wolf Hawk and much lower than the Wolf Hawk 2 (which uses an interface cockpit). For the BV, this seems modestly more potent due to inflicting 25% more damage in point blank attack and having about twice the armor. Although the Giant Foot cannot have an interface cockpit, it seems Enhanced Imaging compatibility is possible. This would provide another -1 to piloting skill rolls and partially negate various penalties to hit.
