The lovechild of a Stone Rhino and an Osteon. The Prime configuration has the same gunports as the Stone Rhino on the cover of ilClan Recognition Guide v2. More configurations here:
https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=70185.0IRON RHINO ASSAULT OMNIMECH
During the Jihad, Diamond Shark escapees from the Homeworlds brought word of a renegade Clan Coyote faction assaulting their enclaves with advanced, never-before-seen omnimechs. Although the escapees brought too little information to reverse-engineer these Coyote designs, Shark scientists and technicians did inherit battleroms, salvage, and file fragments that would inspire and drive their mech developments for several decades to come.
One of the advanced Coyote designs reinforced a mid-weight assault omnimech chassis and wrapped it in ferro-lamellor armor and other defensive measures. Recognizing the value of a mech that could outlast all comers in Clan combat trials or in defense of Shark facilities, the Sharks sought to adapt the Coyote innovations to an even heavier design and settled on the venerable Stone Rhino.
The resulting Iron Rhino resembles the Stone Rhino and tops the scales at 100 tons like its progenitor, but alters the Stone Rhino right down to it bones. The chassis of the Iron Rhino is heavily reinforced, doubling both its weight and its ability to absorb damage. The Iron Rhino’s cockpit and hip actuators are also separately armored, protecting the Iron Rhino from fatal attacks on it mechwarrior and crippling damage to it motive system. The Iron Rhino also incorporates a compact gyroscope. This makes the gyro harder to target, while also freeing up volume for centrally mounted weapons that ensure the Iron Rhino can return fire until combat ends. Protecting all these improvements in the survivability of the Rhino’s internal systems is 20 tons of ferro-lamellor armor, later used on the Vulture Mk IV and Mad Cat Mk IV, which grants the Iron Rhino armor protection equivalent to that of a low-end superheavy mech and makes the Iron Rhino impervious to certain attacks like LB-X cluster munitions. Every Iron Rhino configuration incorporates further defenses like AMS, ECM, or CASE II.
Despite the mass expended on these defensive measures, the Iron Rhino remains mobile and offensively potent. The Iron Rhino employs the same 300-rated extralight fusion engine as the later Vulture Mk. IV, granting it the Stone Rhino’s top speed of over 50kph, and its configurations also incorporate the Stone Rhino’s jump capability where needed. With nearly 40 tons of omnipod mass available, Iron Rhino configurations also match or exceed the fearsome firepower of the original Stone Rhino and its variants.
Iron Rhino
Mass: 100 tons
Chassis: Reinforced Star League Monster
Powerplant: Type I 300 XL
Cruising Speed: 32 kph
Maximum Speed: 54 kph
Jump Jets: None Fixed
Jump Capability: None in Base Configuration
Armor: Composite Alpha V1 Ferro-Lamellor
Armament: 39 tons omnipod mass
Manufacturer: Manufacturing Plant SFF-TU1 and CSF Poseidon Mobile Production Facility (Zombie Rhino only)
Primary Factory: Tukayyid and CSF Poseidon
Communications System: Garret L20 Omni w/ ECM Interface
Targeting and Tracking System: RCA Instatrac Version 9a Omni w/ Active Probe Interface
Introduction Year: 3135 (3100 for Zombie Rhino)
Tech Rating: F/X-X-X-D
Initial Iron Rhinos lacked omnipod capabilities and were fixed in the Prime configuration. These were exclusively deployed to guard high-value Shark assets, often displacing Mad Cat Mk II assault mechs, and were nicknamed “Zombie Rhinos” by raiding forces from other Clans that were staggered by the design’s survivability. The Prime comfiguration replaces the Stone Rhino’s Gauss cannons with dual ER PPCs delivering the same firepower, armor penetration, and headcapping over a slightly longer range with no minimum range or ammunition limitations. The ER PPCs are mounted in the Iron Rhino’s arms, moving the Stone Rhino’s pulse large lasers to its dorsal weapon mount.
With 13 pod-mounted freezers added to its 12 engine-mounted freezers, the Prime configuration can indefinitely fire all four of its primary energy weapons without overheating from a fixed fire position. When cruising or flanking, the Prime can still fire all four primary energy weapons for extended periods without negative het effects. A powerful Watchdog CEWS suite and cockpit-mounted flamer round out the Iron Rhino Prime’s capabilities, protecting it against advanced targeting systems and infantry attacks or obscuring its exact location with ghost targets and smoke.
Type: Iron Rhino Prime (Zombie Rhino)
Technology Base: Mixed (Advanced)
Tonnage: 100
Equipment: Mass:
Internal Structure Reinforced 20.0
Engine 300XL 9.5
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 0
Double Heat Sink 25(50) 15.0
Gyro Compact 4.5
Cockpit Armored 4.0
Armor Factor 280 (effectively 336+ Ferro-Lam) 20.0
Internal Structure Armor
Head 3 9
Center Torso/Rear 31 42/13
Right Torso/Rear 21 29/13
Left Torso/Rear 21 29/13
Right Arm 17 29
Left Arm 17 29
Right Leg 21 37
Left Leg 21 37
Weight and Space Allocation Fixed Space Remaining
Head +0 Armored Cockpit 1
Center Torso +2 Compact Gyro 4
Right Torso -2 XL Engine 6
-4 Ferro-Lamellor
Left Torso -2 XL Engine 6
-4 Ferro-Lamellor
Right Arm None 10
Left Arm None 10
Right Leg +0 Armored Hip 0
-2 Ferro-Lamellor
Left Leg +0 Armored Hip 0
-2 Ferro-Lamellor
Fixed Armored Components: Cockpit, Right Hip, Left Hip
Prime Configuration (Zombie Rhino)
Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm
Weapons/Ammo/Equip Location Criticals Heat Tons
Flamer H 1 3 0.5
Pulse Large Laser CT 2 10 6.0
Pulse Large Laser CT 2 10 6.0
ER PPC RA 2 15 6.0
ER PPC LA 2 15 6.0
Watchdog CEWS RT 2 - 1.5
2 Double Heat Sinks RT 4 - 2.0
3 Double Heat Sinks LT 6 - 3.0
4 Double Heat Sinks RA 8 - 4.0
4 Double Heat Sinks LA 8 - 4.0
