Torstensson Artillery Support Tank
Mass: 45 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Hovercraft
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-C-B-A
Production Year: 2850
Cost: 992,750 C-Bills
Battle Value: 346
Power Plant: GM 170 I.C.E.
Cruise Speed: 97.2 km/h
Flanking Speed: 151.2 km/h
Armor: ArcShield Max Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Thumper
Manufacturer: Aldis Industries
Primary Factory: Betelgeuse
Communications System: Olmstead 25
Targeting and Tracking System: Cirxese BallistaMax
Overview: The Torstensson Artillery Tank was a failed attempt by the Capellan Confederation to bolster their defensive capabilities before the start of the Second Succession War. It was intended as a hyper-mobile fire support platform that could give striking power to Capellan rapid reaction forces.
The development cycle of the Torstensson was long and troubled. The initial plans for the project were laid down in the late 28th century at the behest of then-Chancellor Barbara Liao, who intended it to be used against what she saw as an inevitable conflict with the Federated Suns. The project was in its infancy at the fall of the Star League, and the subsequent Succession War that followed put a hold on its development.
After the end of the first Succession War development continued. However, by this time several of the technologies intended to be used on the design had been lost. What was originally intended as a flexible fire support platform for both the assault and the defense was re-configured into a purely defensive vehicle.
Ultimately the project was delayed again when several prominent Capellan engineers were assassinated by a ComStar ROM agent, as part of what would ultimately be revealed as Operation HOLY SHROUD. This set the project back even further. Finally a prototype was completed in 2850.
Capabilities: The Torstensson is built entirely around a single weapon system. A single turret-mounted Bithinian Ballistic Thumper allows it to provide fire support to units from kilometers away.
This was not the weapon originally intended for the vehicle. The initial proposal for the Torstensson was for it to mount the Arrow IV Artillery missile. The missile was then in use by the Terran Hegemony and units assigned to the Star League. Capellan scientist and engineers had been working to replicate it at Barbara Liao's request. They nearly succeed, but the outbreak of the First Succession War resulted in the loss of the research facility.
The Capellans re-started their research after the war. However, ComStar's ROM intelligence service had targeted several teams attempting to replicate Star League hardware for elimination as part of Operation HOLY SHROUD. A truck bomb resulted in 80+ percent casualties in personnel working on the project in September of 2841.
The project was continued regardless, with a restructure to replace the Arrow missile system with the Thumper cannon, a 105 mm artillery piece with a similar mass to the Arrow, but with longer range and a smaller explosive payload.
As an effort to make the platform less expensive, the original GM Fusion power plant was removed. It was replaced with a turbine with approximately the same power output. Two tons of reloads had to be removed to make this work, along with the anti-infantry machine gun originally attached to the Torstensson's forward hull. With the change to the Thumper, the tank still had 20 rounds of internal storage, which was found to be sufficient.
Battle History: In battle, the Torstensson was found to have some significant deficiencies. The hull had originally been designed with the low-recoil Arrow artillery system in mind. It had not been intended to cope with the forces that a 105mm tube artillery piece imparted on the vehicle. Much time in development was spent attempting to solve this issue with additional buffering, but these problems Continent to persist.
The CCAF found that while the lift fans of the Torstennson were in operation the recoil of the Thumper caused the tank the slew badly. It could knock a moving vehicle off its path of travel entirely, and the sideways movement imparted by the firing could, under some circumstances, clause the plenum chamber to lose pressure completely.
Ultimately this was a problem they attempted to solve through doctrine. A unit with Torstenssons would race to their intended firing position and then settle into their positions with their lift fans off. Ultimately this proved to mitigate the advantage that they had sought in the first place. While group of Torstenssons could get in place quickly, the fact that they had to re-pressurize their plenum chambers left them vulnerable to counter-battery fire.
Deployment: Few Torstenssons were manufactured beyond the initial run. Of those that were produced, the majority were assigned to planets along the border with the Federated Suns.
When Michael Davion launched his assault on the Capellan border during Operation: WINTER GARDEN, most of these units were lost. Some were captured by House Davoion, who either assigned them to support local militia, or dismounted the Thumper artillery pieces for use as infantry field guns.
No known Torstenssons are in service with the CCAF. However, at least one is kept in Aldis Industries' reference collection on Betelgeuse.
With the re-discovery of the Arrow IV artillery system in 3044, as well as the arrival of the Clans, there has been a renewed interest in the original concept of the Torstensson as a mobile artillery platform. Aldis' recent successful deployment of the Regulator hover-tank has given them additional operating capital, and they hope to have a working prototype of an Arrow-equipped Torstensson in testing in November of 3067.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 25 points 4.50
Engine: I.C.E. Engine 170 12.00
Cruise MP: 9
Flank MP: 14
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 0 0.00
Control Equipment: 2.50
Lift Equipment: 4.50
Turret: 1.50
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 64 4.00
Armor
Factor
Front 17
Left/Right 12/12
Turret 13
Rear 10
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thumper T 6 1 15.00
@Thumper (20) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 2 Points: 3
9h 2 0 0 0 2 0 Structure: 3
Special Abilities: ARTT, EE, TUR(2/0/0)
