Not trying to stir the pot here, - just trying to get to the bottom of how different the Atlas II is from the original production model of the Atlas.
I've asked several times if the TRO: 3075 gives a description the differences between the versions. The only direct answer to that question came from Arkansas Warrior:
It doesn't so much describe the differences as give you a picture. The one Weirdo posted above, in fact. The description focuses on the weapons and whatnot, though there is a passing reference to "the stylistic alterations in the Battlemech's appearance".
That's not very definitive (and here I'm faulting the TRO:3075 fluff, not Arkansas Warrior). Here's a natural follow up question: what does TRO:3075 give for the weapon locations?
The House Arano sourcebook, which, according to Sarna.net, is canon, not apocrypha, includes a mech record sheet for the Atlas II AS7-D-HT. Interestingly, it features the same Atlas II illustration from TRO:3075. The weapon location block, however, looks like this.
Medium pulse lasers (2) CT
AC20 RT
SRM 6 LT
LRM 20 LT
ER LRL RA
ER LRL LA
That's pretty much the same weapon configuration as the standard Atlas. It belies the image on the same page- the one from TRO:3075, suggesting a somewhat inaccurate visual representation (i.e. artist interpretation). Since the Atlas II stat bloc gives the same weapons configuration as the standard Atlas, and the the entry that starts this thread reads, "First produced at the Weapons Division of the Hegemony Research and Development Department on New Earth,
the Atlas II uses the same skeleton and 300-rated Vlar engine of its progenitor. " [Emphasis added], it seems perfectly logical to conclude that, aside from a few superficial differences (the skull motif, for example), the Atlas II looks more like the original than not. If the original TRO:3075 contradicts the HASB, though, perhaps not.
So, what weapon placement for the Atlas II is listed in TRO:3075?