Lancelot – Not a Knight of the round table (whom dances whenever he’s able) but a 60-ton energy boat!BackgroundStarting its development program as a Medium weight Mech (probably a 55-ton design) that could operate with minimal logistic support the contract to design such a Mech was won by the famous Krupp’s Stellar Tech (probably with a few greased palms, Krupps is one of the oldest firms there is in the armament business after all and its roots and influence go deep.)
But despite their expertise, the Krupp team couldn’t get the Mech that was called for. They did succeed in making a fast, well-armed and durable design, but it came in a bit too heavy at 60 tons. Despite this the SLDF was suitably impressed by the performance of the Mech that they didn’t really care it wasn’t a Medium Mech.
Of notable feature was the highly advanced KBC Starsight Mode 3 T&T system, which performed flawlessly with the Krupps designed battle computer. Both systems would monitor the Mech’s performance, heat (internal and external) as well as alerting the pilot who was targeting them, tracking incoming fire, designating targets and more, all without overloading the pilot with data. The system was so effective that it rivalled the legendary Garret D2j system on the Rifleman.
One oddity is that the Lancelot was apparently looking at replacing the Rifleman as an AA unit in the SLDF, despite its lack of ballistic or flak weaponry. But the fire control computer was more than up to the task of tracking and engaging aircraft.
In production for nearly 200 years, construction of the Lancelot ground to a halt when Krupp’s primary factory on Mars was destroyed during the Amaris Civil War, and because of the large amount of high tech equipment involved in their construction that slowly became lost during the ravages of the Succession Wars, the Lancelot was well on its way to extinction.
LAW managed to steal or recover the plans for the Lancelot during the Second Succession War but without the advanced technologies that the SLDF could manufacture their copy was a pale imitation that quickly built a reputation of being a thinly armoured death trap.
Spread across the Inner Sphere only a few dozen Lancelot’s existed, often in poor condition, whilst many more waited in storage on Terra under the auspices of ComStar.
With the revealing of the ComGuard the Lancelot was seen in large numbers once again and ComStar repaired and reactivated the old Krupps factory to produce more of the Mechs for the ComGuard. These factories then fell into the hands of the Word of Blake who continued to produce the design, all be it altered to their standards, making it a common staple of the Word’s Protectorate Militia. Those that survived the tumult of the Jihad would then be found spread across the Inner Sphere and a Mech who was so rare to be all but extinct is still a long way from dying off completely.
DesignAt its core the Lancelot is a Medium Mech that’s dressed up as a heavy, but it’s a VERY good design. The beating heart of the initial design was a 360 rated XL engine that could push the 60-ton Mech up to 96kph, faster than most 55-ton Mechs and almost any other heavy Mech of the era. Due to its armament choice, the designers wisely chose to fit it with double strength heatsinks and they all fit snuggly in the engine giving the Lancelot a lot of internal space. With the Lancelot and the typical Mech design choices of Speed, Armour, Firepower, the people at Krupps chose Speed and Firepower although armour isn’t totally lacking. A well laid out 9.5 tons of armour give the Lancelot good if not great protection. The side torso’s can JUST repel a gauss rifle slug, whilst the chest can just take a AC-20 hit. The arms and legs armour is defeated and breached by a Gauss slug but this Mech was not built to slug it out, but use its speed to make itself a hard target. The armour is also heavily angled and curved, giving the Lancelot a rather narrow profile although this is not reflected in any way in the games rules.
The armour and engine would change with variants, and the SLDF’s seemingly Royal version used advanced construction materials in its armour and skeleton, whilst later versions would chop and change this and it will be noted below.
VariantsLNC25-01 – Entering service in 2581 the 01 was the first of the Lancelot family and set the ball rolling for how the Mech would be. With its 360 rated XL engine letting it go over 90kph the Lancelot is fast for a Heavy Mech, even by today’s standards. The armament is simple but very effective, a pair of standard large lasers and a PPC give it the ability to reach out and ‘touch’ someone and if it can connect, they’ll know they have been hit. Thanks to its 13 double heatsinks the Lancelot can alpha its main battery and not suffer any heat penalties save during movement. Heat does go up a bit more at shorter ranges if the pilot chooses to fire their single medium laser, probably at someone trying to get under the PPC’s minimum range, but it’s still perfectly manageable. Simple to use and fast enough to run down more than a few unwary Mechs who might not expect such speed from a Heavy Mech the 01 is a pretty darn potent machine.
LNC25-01SL – A Royal design by any other name the 01SL was issued to SLDF forces and only them and was a major upgrade of the chassis. First the armour is updated to Ferro Fibrous plate but I don’t know by how much as I lack the record sheet of this Mech and it’s not on MegaMek either. The large lasers were removed along with the PPC and they were replaced by a trio of ER Large lasers and as many heatsinks as there was tonnage available. Unfortunately, this still makes the 01SL a huge heat hog and enforces a 3-2-3 firing pattern to try and avoid the worst of the heat produced by the lasers and maintain a steady barrage.
LCN25-05 – Technically the second Lancelot to come out and clearly a product of the Star League the 05 is a bit of a strange egg. Dropping a pair of heat sinks and the medium laser the 05 is fitted with a quartet of machine guns and 1 ton of associated ammunition. So, it’s now capable of absolutely murdering infantry forces but is far less heat efficient and I feel that this is a bad trade off. There’s a spike of heat that, although not noticeable if you stand still will be noticed if you walk or run. Ifs primary advantage, if you could call it that, is that its BV is cheaper than the 01, but not by enough to be useful.
LNC25-01X – The last of the SLDF designed Lancelot’s the 01X featured a slew of changes. Its skeleton was now an endo-steel one whilst the armour was ferro-fibrous, although protection did not increase or change. The lasers were upgraded to ER large lasers and the PPC and medium laser remained as they were. All the weight saved was put into jump jets, allowing the 01X to leap up to 120 meters. Only available in very limited numbers the prototypes were seemingly not well received with pilots wanting either more armour or heatsinks instead of the Jump jets, and I have to agree with them. The mobility is nice but I’d rather have better protection which the 01X is just calling out for.
LNC25-02 – LAW’s ‘monkey’ version is a case of when a Mech goes wrong. Without the capacity to produce the XL engine or double heatsinks as they tried to reproduce the Lancelot for the Combine, LAW was forced to sacrifice speed, reducing the engine to a 240-rated standard engine, chopping the speed to 64kph. Nineteen standard heatsinks were installed and the weapons remained the same, but now the 02 suffered from fearsome heat spikes if a Pilot used all three primary weapons. Armour was not increased and the now rather slow Lancelot 02 was far easier to hit and its thin hide left it horribly exposed. Such was its reputation amongst the DCMS that the Mech was regarded as a coffin by those assigned to it. The 02 also lacked the advanced and powerful electronics that made the 01 so flexible, and this reduced it to just being another heavy mech, all be it one that was woefully vulnerable to hostile fire.
LNC25-03 – It’s got autocannons so I would guess this was a House Davion variant considering that realms long love affair with cannons. The 03 is actually a refit of a 01, well..more a rebuild I would say. Finally, the Lancelot is given armour and in the 03’s case, as much as the frame can hold. Speed is reduced with the installation of a 300 rated XL engine, but this only drops it to a still respectable 85kph at full speed. Armament though is a bit lacking. The large lasers are gone, replaced with a pair of AC-5’s that share a single ton of CASE protected ammo between them, the PPC and medium laser are still there though and this weapons mix is easily cooled by the 10 double heatsinks installed in the engine. Although light on ammunition and not packing the raw punch of the 01 the 03 isn’t bad, and is more like a Rifleman’s weird cousin than a traditional Lancelot.
LNC25-04 – First produced by ComStar then the Word of Blake the 04 became a common sight amongst the ComGuard and Blakist forces the 04 is a potent common-sense upgrade. Retaining the 360 XL engine of its 01 predecessor, the 04 can still hit 96kph, but now it’s got endo-steel bones and ferro-fibrous armour, 10 tons of it! Whilst not enough to fully clad the Mech, it does give it better protection than the 01 which its clearly based off. The medium laser’s gone and all remaining weapons are upgraded to ER versions, letting it reach out and hit at long range to challenge even the Clans and their typical range advantages. A C3i computer neatly ties this package together along with an extra heatsink. Although pressing the big red alpha strike button isn’t recommended, there’s nothing explosive onboard so it’s safe to do so if the situation demands it.
LNC25-06 – The Blakists spin on the 04, the 06 has the same endo-steel and ferro fibrous hull as the 04, but only has 12 double heatsinks and then more weight saving was thrown into the mix. A small cockpit and XL gyro save enough weight to squeeze a targeting computer into the hull. Perhaps to counter the heat issues the 04 had, the ER PPC of the 04 is downgraded to a standard PPC but the 06 still runs a bit warm, forcing a firing pattern rather than being the alpha baby the 01 was. Still the targeting computer is a fearsome addition and with its speed the 06 can quite happily spot for other members of its Level II.
LNC-25-7 –
There is no 07. Well there is but the only details for it are on Sarna and are too vague to be useful. Apparently is uses LB-5’s, Light ferro and lacks the targeting computer of the 06, but I’m not sure of what other changes there are.
LNC25-08 – Possibly what the 07 is, the 08 is a nod to the old 03 variants but built with modern technologies. The biggest change is the addition of light ferro-fibrous armour which slightly thickens the armour across the 08’s hull, especially its rather vulnerable legs. Like the 06 it has a small cockpit and XL engine and C3i computer, but it only has 10 double heatsinks, but this is all it needs.
Armed with a pair of LB-5X autocannons with 2 tons of ammo shared between the guns and a standard PPC, heat woes are not in your future if you are a 08 pilot. More a sidegrade over the 06, it’s really a tossup between what’s better, the 06 has a harder punch but has heat issues, whilst the 08’s more flexible and can crit seek with cluster shots. One thing the 08 does have going for it though is that it’s cheap as chips in terms of BV.
ThoughtsThe Lancelot in its own way is a kind of Hellbringer. Its fast under armoured (but still better protected than the Hellbie, but then again so’s a soggy teabag) and with a good punch. The lack of explodium on most chassis means the Lancelot mean that even if you do start overheating you’re not going to suffer an explosive and very impressive fate. The only egg of the family s the 02 but that’s because it’s an attempt to make this Mech with standard technology and its woefully fragile when caught out. Really using one of these depends on keeping moving. Most of them can hit 96kph so use that speed to make yourself a hard target to hit whilst keeping at mid-range for your weapons. Keeping the speed up is vital, you’re rather poorly armoured and a good hit will strip or near strip an arm or side torso and as most variants are not crit packed, you’ll probably loose limbs in short order and the XL engine is just begging to be tickled.
Fighting a Lancelot is all a matter of hitting one. If you see a Clan Mech with large pulse lasers, do NOT go near it as it will punch through your hide in terrifyingly short order. Treat a Lancelot like you would a Hellbringer and you won’t go too far wrong. It can hurt you, but if you hit it, you’re doing a LOT more to him. As they lack crits in their torsos for the most part, any crit will almost certainly hit the engine so a Lancelot can be shockingly easy to disable if you can peel off their rather thin hide first.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gHdDxKy2QW0 - A Word of Blake Lancelot attacking a 'rebel' town. Colourised.
As always, thoughts and comments are most welcome!
