Honey Badger Light Tank
Mass: 40 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Tracked OmniVehicle
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A
Production Year: 3054
Cost: 5,642,292 C-Bills
Battle Value: 552
Power Plant: 280 Fusion XL Engine
Cruise Speed: 75.6 km/h
Flanking Speed: 118.8 km/h
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
12.0 tons of pod space.
Manufacturer:
Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:
Overview:
The Badger ominvehicle served the Wolf's Dragoons well during the early 31st century. From the time of their arrival until the invasion of the Clans, the Badger was known as a tough, flexible platform that the Dragoons could use to support their conventional ground forces.
Once the Dragoons' nature was revealed, however, they reverted to their use of Clan armored infantry. This left the Badger as a vehicle largely without a purpose. While it could transport Elementals, its nature as an omnivehicle meant that the space that it would normally have used to transport conventional infantry largely went to waste.
Parallel to this issue, the Dragoons discovered in the 3040s that they had a hole in their armored vehicle inventory. While the Bandit hovercraft was performing admirably as a long-range scout for Alpha, Beta, and Delta regiments, Gamma and Epsilon regiments found it of little use. The Bandit was of dubious use in the close confines of urban warfare. It was less useful than that in a static defense.
Accordingly, Dragoons technicians proposed a replacement for the Badger that would bring it more in line with the needs of Delta and Epsilon regiments. IN 3054 Dragoon techs put forward a role for a new vehicle that was designed to replace the Badger in regular service. The new vehicle would be an ombivehiclle, similar to the Bandit, that would serve primarily in a reconnaissance role. To solve the Bandit's mobility issues in close terrain, it would need to be a tracked design.
Capabilities:
What became known as the "Honey Badger" was bigger, tougher, faster, and more heavily armed than the vehicle it was intended to replace. Engineers called for a 40 ton chassis capable of a top speed of nearly 120 Kph. This would have made the Honey Badger one of the fastest tracked vehicles in the Inner Sphere.
The use of a lightweight XL engine and ferro-fibrous armor would give the new omnivehicle 12 tons of pod space in the turret. This was intended to make the Honey Badger superior to the Bandit in terms of payload.
The Prime variant was to be a good all-around fighter. It paired a single particle cannon with a pair of SRM-4 racks. This combination allowed for good medium to short ranged punch. In addition the use of standard SRM racks would allow the option of carrying inferno, NARC-guided, or other specialty ammunition.
The Alpha variant was intended to give indirect fire support to recon vehicle formations. It carried a single 15-tube LRM launcher with two tons of reloads. For close ranged support, three medium lasers were mounded below the missile rack in the turret.
The Beta configuration was requested specifically by the Gamma regiment. Their urban combat specialty called for a variant that was an effective knife fighter. 6 streak SRM-2 racks and a single medium laser would have given this configuration incredible short ranged punch for its size.
The Gamma configuration was intended to be a mixed direct and indirect fire support platform. It paired a single extended-range large laser with a pair of 5-tube LRM racks.This direct/indirect combo would have made it a prized support unit for Dragoons in the open field.
Delta configuration was to be a dedicated anti-infantry platform. Twin SRM-4 racks, nearly always loaded with inferno ammunition, combined with a flamer connected to the vehicle's fusion plant to make life miserable for enemy infantry. Larger enemies would be dealt with by a single large laser
The final proposed configuration was the Epsilon config. It would have been a dedicated electronic warfare platform. In the turret was a combined package of Guardian ECM, Beagle Active Probe and Target Acquisition Gear. A NARC beacon launcher was also mounted, as well as a trio of medium lasers for defensive use.
Deployment:
Ultimately the Honey Badger project was abandoned. The Wolfs Dragoons were wracked by internal strife, culminating in the Dragoon Civil War in 3054. Those on Alpin Wolf's side disdained the use of conventional vehicles on the battlefield, determining them to be un-Clan like.
While Jaime and Maeve Wolf's factions ultimately won out, the industrial and economic damage left over from the conflict ultimately doomed the project. Further attempts to push it forward by the commanders of Gamma and Epsilon regiments were made,
Those attempts seemed to be bearing fruit. While the Dragoons were not certain they would have much use beyond specialized cases for the Honey Badger, they did determine that there might be a market for the vehicle in the rest of the Inner Sphere. Ultimately however these plans were abandoned due to the Wold of Blake Jihad.
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Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Internal Structure: Standard 20 points 4.00
Engine: XL Fusion Engine 280 12.00
Cruise MP: 7
Flank MP: 11
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 10 0.00
Control Equipment: 2.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 1.50
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 152 8.50
Armor
Factor
Front 37
Left/Right 30/30
Turret 30
Rear 25
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Loadout Name: Prime Cost: 6,202,292
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 1,008
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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PPC T 10 1 7.00
2 SRM-4s T 6 2 4.00
@SRM-4 (25) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 10
7t 2 3 1 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, TUR(2/3/1, SRM 1/1/0), SRM 1/1/0
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Loadout Name: Alpha Cost: 6,158,542
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 1,094
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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LRM-15 T 5 1 7.00
3 Medium Lasers T 9 3 3.00
@LRM-15 (16) BD - 0 2.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 11
7t 2 3 1 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, TUR(2/3/1), IF 1
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Loadout Name: Beta Cost: 5,869,792
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 964
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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6 Streak SRM-2s T 12 6 9.00
Medium Laser T 3 1 1.00
@Streak SRM-2 (100) BD - 0 2.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 10
7t 3 3 0 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, TUR(3/3/0)
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Loadout Name: Gamma Cost: 6,104,292
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 1,008
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 12 2.00
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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2 LRM-5s T 4 2 4.00
ER Large Laser T 12 1 5.00
@LRM-5 (24) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 10
7t 2 2 2 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, TUR(2/2/2), IF 1
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Loadout Name: Delta Cost: 6,043,917
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 925
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 11 1.00
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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Flamer T 3 1 1.00
2 SRM-4s T 6 2 4.00
Large Laser T 8 1 5.00
@SRM-4 (Artemis) (25) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 9
7t 3 2 0 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, TUR(3/2/0, SRM 1/1/0), SRM 1/1/0
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Loadout Name: Epsilon Cost: 6,814,792
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-E-A BV2: 937
Equipment Type Rating Mass
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Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
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Guardian ECM Suite T 0 1 1.50
TAG T 0 1 1.00
Beagle Active Probe T 0 1 1.50
Narc Launcher T 0 1 3.00
3 Medium Lasers T 9 3 3.00
@Narc (Homing) (12) BD - 0 2.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 5 Points: 9
7t 2 2 0 0 2 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: OMNI, ECM, TAG, PRB, RCN, SNARC, TUR(2/2/0)