Vehicle of the Week: Marksman Artillery VehicleCovering a request this week, we're looking at the Marksman Artillery Vehicle. (This is not to be confused with the M1 series Marksman tank, which will be covered after the turning of the year.) Introduced during the Star League but unpopular due to its limited ability to engage enemies at close range - a problem that was later discovered to be the fault of poor cooling for the targeting computer - it was originally conceived of as a variant of the smaller Thor. The weight and recoil of the main gun forced a rethink on that idea, leading to a brand new chassis that wasn't even all that popular during the Succession Wars. An autocannon-armed variant did emerge during the fighting in the Pentagon Worlds as mentioned and described by
Historical: Operation KLONDIKE, but the real revamp of the design was finally issued by the Lyran Alliance during the Jihad, then put into production on Melissia as described by TRO3050 Upgrades after the merger or partnership with CRI. Along the way, the problems with the targeting computer were finally and definitively addressed.
At 65 tons, the Marksman falls squarely into the heavy vehicle category, and with a Magna 260 fusion engine of the same brand used for centuries in the
Thunderbolt, its tracked chassis manages the respectable speed of 64 kph. The armor is, in all honesty, kind of oddball and not terribly heavy. 7 tons of ferro-fibrous might have been passable on an artillery vehicle but the decision to arrange it 49/19/19/19 is a bit screwball. At the very least, bringing it up to 20 points on the sides, rear, and turret - enough to resist four clusters from counter-battery fire without it going internal - would have been handy. The point of this exercise is the forward-mounted Sniper artillery piece. Although it lacks the range and compactness of the Thumper or the sheer firepower of the Long Tom, the Sniper is reasonably powerful and handy, with the ability to carry either a ton each for 10 shots of two different ammo types or 20 shots of a single type. The turreted point-defense gun is a RAMTech 500 large laser, a reasonably accurate and powerful weapon for an artillery vehicle, especially if an entire battery (read: lance) opens fire on someone at once. Overall, while it's slower than the Thor, I do think the Marksman would have been a useful fire support unit, but the older, faster design was apparently more in tune with SLDF artillery doctrine, and given the way the Thumper has become more powerful under Tactical Operations, I can see what they're getting at.
During the Pentagon Civil War, many ex-SLDF Marksmen fell on hard times and were refit as more conventional units. Retaining their fusion engine and the handy, capable RAMTech, their Sniper tube and armor were stripped off. The armor was increased to 8.5 tons of standard plate, arranged 54/20/20/22, a significant increase in survival the Hetzer reboot is going to need. That's right, I said Hetzer. There's a class 20 autocannon fixed forward, fed by three tons of ammo, and it's supplemented by 2 RL15s and 3 RL10s, though they're not as good as the later Marian models. Overall, while it's not as tough as the Rommel and the lack of a turreted autocannon hurts, as an assault gun operated like the bigger, meaner Hetzer it is, the Marksman (AC) variant is a respectable low tech refit.
In the fires of the Jihad, even as some designs fought their last battles, others were resurrected to go to war again. Such was the fate of the Marksman, new construction beginning on Melissia by Grumman/CRI. Powered by a light fusion engine, this model apparently uses light ferro-fibrous armor. The main gun is the same, but a point of armor was added to the turret and front of the design, bringing them to 50 and 20 points respectively. In the turret, a light PPC replaces the large laser, while the front has a pair of heavy machine guns and each side has one, with two full tons of HMG ammo. Although this is a
lot of infantry killing power, it's useless beyond two hexes, and frankly, if you're going to invest four tons in machine guns, you might as well just put eight LMGs on. Sure, you'll lose some firepower, but the crit-seeking and range will more than make up for it. You'll also actually be able to do a bit more inside the LPPC's minimums. Still, if infantry was a concern for your artillery, this is going to solve that problem.
Using the Marksman is fairly simple: Find an area with several firing positions reasonably close to each other (the better to spread a battery out and also provide room to move around in case someone starts lobbing counter-battery fire back), then park there and let the steel rain fly. Copperheads aren't really that great on the Sniper but they can be useful, while HE rounds are always great for both making someone stop camping out and suppressing battle armor. (And by suppress, I mean terminate with extreme prejudice.) Bring a friend, something short-ranged and violent, and let them deal with any uninvited guests long enough to turn and blast someone with direct-fire Snipers and a lance's worth of piping hot photons. The Pentagon model is an ambush predator or, against the refit dredged up refuse of the Pentagon powers, a center of your line attacker. Wait for someone to get into AC range and pound them. If it's a juicy target, give them a nice pounding with the rockets, too.
One of the best answers to artillery is artillery of your own, forcing the opposing artillery to either risk shelling or move. While off-board artillery may be out of reach of each other, on-board artillery support almost never is, and when it is, it's generally because you're using Arrows. You can also try suppressing them rather more permanently with aerospace attack but given the kind of flak an artillery battery can answer you with, that's a risky proposition if you get to lower altitudes. The other popular answer is hunter-killer units, something a Marksman is better advised to engage by turning the artillery on it than just relying on its laser, PPC, or HMGs. Fast-moving, hard-hitting cavalry mediums are your best bet - you want to find the target and still have enough firepower and armor to deal with the artillery and what might be hanging around to defend it. Against the Pentagon refit, treat it like a bigger Hetzer: Either hit it from the flanks or stand off and disable it. Stepping in front of a class 20 autocannon at short range is one of those habits that gets MechWarriors killed.
References: The
Master Unit List is an excellent first stop, but you may also want to look over the material on the
BattleTech Wiki and gaze upon the work of the
CamoSpecs artists.