Mini-dropship, the Frontiersman

[AngryButler with a KNIFE!]

Wanted to see how small I could get a dropship down until its effectively a flying C-17 Globemaster. As in:

1 Mech Bay (first guy out, last one to board, using rear ramp)
2 Hvy Vehicle Bays (over/under two deck bay behind the Mech Bay, using the same rear ramp)
2 Squads of Inner Sphere BAs (exit out side doors/airlocks)
80 tons of Misc Cargo (moved around via any of the other doors/main ramp)

In flight/space its more or less an ultra-heavy ASF with two ERLLs in the nose, an MML7 in each wing, and a MPL+2xMguns aft that protect the rear ramp from any creepy-crawlies that try to come aboard while scouting a new planet.

Basically, a small semi-expendable explorer that can either be used to, ahem, 'explore strange new worlds', and possibly setup an initial encampment. Probably an armed IndustrialMech, a multi-purpose construction vehicle, an APC. Then flip a coin if the BAs are salvage arm/lift hoist equipped construction helpers, or 'security guards'.

Or can be used for military purposes in landing well away from population centers, almost certainly carrying an elite SpecOps unit where quality is far more important than quantity. So likely a stealthed scout 'Mech (nobody say Steiner Scouts please  ), a stealthed VTOL, a stealthy APC, and of course, stealthy BAs. Get in, grab whatever is needed/document whatever is needed, and exfil hopefully without anyone knowing you were there. That or make one helvalot of noise in order to get the planetary defenders mad enough to chase you all over, while your actual invasion force jumps in a week later as the defenders are wildly out of position.

Specifically for pairing with Merchantmen or Invaders and NOT Scout Jumpships. The other docking collars would be for a tanker/hydroponics dropship that could extend the mission while staying attached to the jumpship - or, after things have been declared 'safe', then detach and land - and a probable 3rd dropship would be a tug/miner for some orbital mining to top off on raw material stock. Or, in short, the expensive stuff stays in orbit away from hyper-lethal diseases, hungry megafauna, those pesky locust-aliens no one likes to acknowledge, the Minnesota Tribe, or other Alien Space Bats.

Code: [Select]

Frontiersman Dropship
Type: Military Aerodyne
Mass: 1,100 tons
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Introduced: 3145
Mass: 1,100
Battle Value: 2,277
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-X-X-D
Cost: 144,134,640 C-bills

Fuel: 60 tons (3,600)
Safe Thrust: 5
Maximum Thrust: 8
Heat Sinks: 20 (40)
Structural Integrity: 9

Armor
    Nose: 175
    Sides: 148/148
    Aft: 120

Cargo
    Bay 1:  Heavy Vehicle (2)       1 Door   
    Bay 2:  Mech (1)                1 Door   
    Bay 3:  BattleArmor (IS) (2)    2 Doors   
    Bay 4:  Cargo (80.0 tons)       1 Door   

Ammunition:
    28 rounds of MML 7 SRM ammunition (2 tons),
    34 rounds of MML 7 LRM ammunition (2 tons),
    200 rounds of Light Machine Gun [Full] ammunition (1 tons)

Escape Pods: 5
Life Boats: 0
Crew:  2 officers, 6 enlisted/non-rated, 2 gunners, 30 bay personnel

Notes: Mounts 31 tons of ferro-aluminum armor.

Weapons:                                       Capital Attack Values (Standard)
Arc (Heat)                                 Heat  SRV     MRV     LRV     ERV   Class       
Nose (24 Heat)
2 ER Large Laser                           24   2(16)   2(16)   2(16)    0(0)  Laser       
RW/LW (4 Heat)
1 MML 7                                     4    0(4)    0(4)    0(4)    0(0)  MML         
    MML 7 LRM Ammo (17 shots)
    MML 7 SRM Ammo (14 shots)
Aft (4 Heat)
1 Medium Pulse Laser                        4    1(6)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Pulse Laser
2 Light Machine Gun                         0    0(2)    0(0)    0(0)    0(0)  Point Defense
    Light Machine Gun Ammo [Full] (200 shots)



[Giovanni Blasini]

While 5/8 acceleration is probably excessive for an explorer, your other role of SpecOps dropper can certainly benefit from it, and gives it a reason for being when you've also got the Aurora.  Very cool.

[Daryk]

Explorer ships should be spheroid, not aerodyne... unimproved planets generally don't have much in the way of runways...

Aside from that, I managed to cram a light vehicle company into a 1,000 ton DropShip (courtesy of Quickcell): https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,51064.0.html

[AngryButler with a KNIFE!]

Explorer ships should be spheroid, not aerodyne... unimproved planets generally don't have much in the way of runways...

Aside from that, I managed to cram a light vehicle company into a 1,000 ton DropShip (courtesy of Quickcell): https://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php/topic,51064.0.html

I've always gone with a modification on the Kzinti Lesson. In how, if you've got a fusion rocket shoved up the back of your dropship, all you need to do is fly low, and tilt the nose back as far as your aerodynamics allow. The plasma exhaust will pretty much melt you a runway after only a few passes. Go back up into orbit for a day and wait for everything to cool off, and then come back down to land. We already know Dropships, even Aerodynes, use 'European' style landing gear, in which they more or less only need an open meadow to land and not a true paved runway.

Also, I spotted that dropship awhile ago. Neat, I like.

[Daryk]

Thanks! :)

And thank you for justifying aerodynes... now to just get that into the rules somewhere... ;)

[AngryButler with a KNIFE!]

Thanks! :)

And thank you for justifying aerodynes... now to just get that into the rules somewhere... ;)

Funnily enough, I've yet to run into a GM that won't approve of that as a house rule, outside of major tourneys/Con matchups. Generally its 'one full mapsheet, the long way' and uses the ASFs interacting with ground map rules for how fast you can loop around again. Plus side? Well, landing an aerodyne anywhere. Downside? You're basically pulling a Cobra maneuver the entire time and sittting on your engine, which makes you a hilariously easy target to hit with, well, anything. Virtually every GM that allowed the Aerodyne landing has reasoned it out and included something along those lines.

[Daryk]

Awesome! :)