A Firebee in its natural state... overheating.
Quick article for you this time around, covering another Mech that has been in a recent plastic-miniature box set, specifically Proliferation Cycle. Turns out I couldn't find an article done on the Firebee, and since it's one of the better Mechs of its era, that needs some recitificat... rectifyi... repair... Let's talk about the ****** Firebee.
As you are no doubt aware, dear reader, the debut of the MCK-series Battlemech gave the battlefields of the Inner Sphere a serious change in fortunes. It was as big of a revelation to humanity's ability to wage war as the dreadnought-type battleship had been in the early 20th century- everything else was suddenly obsolete, and you either had the new toy, or you were stuck wanting it while you lost ground and prestige to those more fortunate. All of the other Great Houses scrambled to get their own Battlemech programs running to match the Camerons next door, with varying degrees of success in their early outings. Perhaps the furthest departure from the original Mackie concept of 'big lumbering monstrosity' was the slender, lightweight offering from House Liao, the oddly-named Firebee in 2472. Serving as a lightweight option to support Liao's own Mackies (and later, other designs as they came about), the Mech underwent changes as technology advanced, becoming a wildly different Mech as time went on from the original concept.
So let's start with that original concept from 2483,
WAM-B/FRB-1E. At 35 tons, this was an early foray into building what we would recognize a few hundred years later as a light-class Battlemech, though at the high end of the spectrum for such a machine. As such, it's roughly a third of the size of the hulking Mackie, and one expects that to come with a boost in performance and drop in protection and firepower- both are true. The machine, code named by Ceres Metals' execs as 'Weapon-Armed Mech' (clever!), could hit previously-unheard of speeds of 86 kph, which a Mackie is only capable of doing if it's thrown off a cliff. That's great- we have an early attempt at making a Mech that can flank a target, and in an era of primitive tech that's no small feat, getting around big tanks or bigger early Mechs with relative ease. Jump jets weren't a thing yet, though, so that speed boost isn't yet buoyed by that extra mobility. And that's a problem, because while it's faster, it's not FAST- not enough to get high movement modifiers, really. Six tons of primitive armor give the machine what sounds like a solid coat of protection, but just... isn't. Even in the primitive era (we totally need Mech longbows and stone clubs), weapons like the autocannon and PPC of a Mackie will rip a Firebee to shreds, with all locations unable to hold out a hit from those weapons. Interestingly, we do see eight points on the head, so there's a focus on pilot safety...? To arm a small but 'fast' machine like this, Liao went with an LRM-5 and a ton of ammo, and three SRM-2s with two tons of ammo- not exactly overwhelming stuff, but handy, particularly if you use inferno missiles to play mean against enemy armor. In fact, while Weapon-Armed Mech 'A' was a success, it was expected that the next version would be named Weapon-Armed Mech B- instead, thanks to the regular use of inferno missiles, the Mech became known as a 'Fire-B', and thus the strange name was born.
This was okay in its era, if a little unspectacular, but as time went on and we got what we would know today as Succession Wars-era tech (and later Star League-tech), the Firebee needed to keep pace or get left behind. The result is a pretty nasty customer, one that became a favorite of the author after playing with it a few times in SW-era games as tests back when we first saw it in TRO:3075. This was the
FRB-2E, which became the standard model for the Star League era and early Succession Wars (during which time the Mech became essentially extinct). We see the primitive engine and armor go away in favor of the more advanced stuff we all learned the game on, which means a boost to the protection- we can actually hold out a PPC hit in all locations now other than the rear and head (though only just barely on most locations as well, to be fair), a handy thing for a Mech armed for short-range combat. The speed isn't changed, but the addition of five jump jets gives the Firebee a much greater capability to clear obstacles that it couldn't before- and of course, that its preferred prey, enemy armor, still can't. The inferno-spraying SRM systems are back, same as ever, with the same two tons of ammo, but a fourth SRM-2 lives in the center torso now for a little extra torch-all-the-things fun. The LRM rack, never a particularly scary weapon, got replaced with a large laser- the heat from this can be a problem if the other weapons and/or jump jets are triggered as well, since there's only ten heat sinks, but it's a nasty weapon to get hit with regardless despite the loss of range. It takes some finesse to use this thing well- it wants to brawl, but heat is a huge issue for it, and it's not REALLY fast for its size (compared to, say, a Jenner), so it can struggle against other Mechs as a result. No matter- if you're going to run hot, at least you can make everyone else run hot with a barrage of burning gel. Bring marshmallows, the Firebee is on the field.
So we have a fun little oddball that feels like it wants to brawl, but isn't all that fast. It wants to overwhelm a target with its muscle, but can't handle the heat from that. It really wants to hit big tanks with burning gasoline, but it can't take a hit in reply more than a couple of times. Coupled with the loss of the manufacturing facilities on Exedor early in the First Succession War, the high-risk tactics the Firebee relied on lead quickly to its demise, and Liao units soon found that the design was relegated to museums and memories...
...Then the Jihad came about.
"I once caught a fish THIS big!"
Feels like we're skipping a whole lot, aren't we? No Succession Wars version, no Star League 'Royal' garbage, etc., it just was a design that died off. No refit in 3050, since it was dead, so nothing to upgrade. This really was a design that had gone to the scrapheap of history, one of very few Mechs in this game to become truly extinct (like the Von Rohrs)... riiiiight up until the bombardment of Sian in the Jihad's early stages. To the surprise of all, and joy of the Capellan people (if not those observing from outside their borders), Sun-Tzu Liao had NOT died in the rubble of the palace when the shots came down from above. A pair of museum-piece Firebees showed up along with the Chancellor, having been heavily upgraded for use in the new era, which is... interesting. The
FRB-3E takes the standard model and does away with the jump jets, which is a bummer, but adds a bit of extra armor to the legs. The whole armor system is now stealth, with an ECM system installed to run it. Mixed bag so far, but sure. The weapons are totally overhauled, with the SRM spam getting turned into a single MML-5. That's a loss of a couple of missiles, but gaining the ability to launch long-range attacks as well, with the two tons of ammo still retained (and protected now by CASE). The large laser is also removed, replaced by a mighty plasma rifle and two ton sof ammunition. This is a mighty gun, and a great upgrade if you want to continue getting rid of enemy armor, or anything else that doesn't react well to getting hit by burning wads of styrofoam. Double-heat sinks help keep the machine running remarkably cool. This thing is a blast- not very fast or agile, but plenty enough to make life miserable on a target, and hard to put down to boot. How these got refitted in hiding with all of this top-tier tech is best left to the imagination. I'm not aware of any attempt to build more of these, so it's possible that these two are the only FRB-3Es that ever existed, making it a major collector's item- if only Rhonda Snord was around, she'd go nuts over a rarity like this.
There's one more oddity to note- amilitia IndustrialMech version, produced by Wesley Industries after the blackout to begin the Dark Age. The question of why an ancient Battlemech design would be chosen to be converted for the role rather than just creating a more specialized machine is best not asked, lest the Maskirovka show up (and I've had enough of that lately in this column!). Regardless, this oddball is called the
WI-WAM Firebee, and uses a fuel cell engine to drop to 4/6, and obviously doesn't jump. A single RL-10 rocket system will cause someone to wince exactly once, while a Thunderbolt/10 provides some ranged muscle that can't be ignored for long, but doesn't have a great deal of staying power- not that one would need a MilitiaMech to stick around long. It's a weird choice, but it turns out that through this, the Firebee has returned- if in a roundabout way- to life in the Inner Sphere in the current day. Whether those facilities (or even the chassis they produced) could be converted to produce the more capable models is open to wonder. Based on Liao post-Jihad sneakiness in hiding weapons and industry away, it wouldn't be surprising.
It remains to note two offshoots of the Firebee, which we won't go into great detail, but deserve noting. The first is the Taurian 'Toro' design, which itself is their first attempt at a homegrown Mech design (and a lot of fun if you've never tried one). This is based on captured/salvaged Firebees, which I'm sure made the Chancellor REALLY happy. The other is the IlClan era 'Yinghuochong' (Firefly) a collaboration of Liao and Clan Sea Fox, based directly on the Firebee and carrying a single Clan-spec ER PPC or TSEMP (depending on the model). The author knows a Pack Hunter-ripoff when he sees one, but will allow it regardless.
It's hard to judge the Firebee, in the end, compared to its contemporaries. It's so much smaller than the Mackie or Ymir that it feels hard to really stack up, but it's got a lot of advantages over the similar-sized Icarus. The SRM muscle makes it a hit for getting rid of tanks or wounded units, particularly if you bring inferno rounds, but the heat and sluggish movement for its size definitely help explain why it died off post-Amaris. It's a lot of fun, particularly if you use it as a hidden unit, but even the most ardent Liao commanders likely will find that if they really need to fill out their forces, the Vindicator is, as always, probably a better bet for... everything.
