Author Topic: Bjorn Assault Battle Armour  (Read 2664 times)

marauder648

  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • *
  • Posts: 8157
    • Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs
Bjorn Assault Battle Armour
« on: 11 January 2018, 06:32:48 »
Bjorn Assault Battle Armour

Background

After suffering several defeats at the hands of Clan Hells Horses during trials, the Rasalhague Dominion looked at some of the factors for these embarrassments.  One factor found its focus on the Horses new Buraq quad Battle Armour which was far faster than any suit previously encountered and thanks to its speed more flexible as a Buraq Point or Star could react far faster and placed less emphasis on transportation as they could almost keep up with most Clan heavy Mechs. 

Unfortunately, no samples of Buraq’s had been captured and so when the Dominion’s military ordered a counter and similar design to be developed, the Scientists instead turned to the Lyran Fenrir battle suit which they had captured over the years. 
Unfortunately, the initial attempt to mirror the Buraq’s performance whilst using a Fenrir layout as a prototype ended in failure.  Computer models showed that the ride for the Elemental would have been ‘uncomfortable’ at best, incapacitating at worst.  Other tests with an altered frame saw the suit rip its leg off when the myomer booster failed.  This and other issues with the initial design saw plans change, and as is common with the Dominion, they simply added mass. 
The suit grew to a heavy class Battle suit, but changes to the designs armament and protection layout saw it grow again eventually into a full 2-ton suit. 

There were still challenges, the interior layout took several iterations to get right.  Initially, like the Fenrir and what was assumed the Buraq, the Elemental would ride it in a head forwards position, hunched over as if riding a motorbike. But with the suits gait when it moved this proved to be uncomfortable, and the pilot would have a hard time getting out of the armour should it be damaged. 

Instead the entire control position was moved to the rear of the suit, with the Elemental now sitting in a heavily reclined seat with his or her feet towards the head and the controls above him, seeing the world through the suits sensors and multiple micro cameras dotted around the flank and rear.  This too raised criticism as sensors and cameras could be damaged or jammed. So, the seating position was moved somewhat forward into a somewhat more upright position.  A visual port was then put on the suit’s back although the extensive array of cameras was still retained and would be the main way the Elemental would see the outside world. 

One minor complaint was that to mount the suit, you had to climb in via a rear mounted hatch, the seat automatically reclining until the pilot was seated and some Warriors objected to ‘climbing out of the poop-chute’ but really it was the only way in and out of the new suit. 

The next, and biggest challenge was the training programme.  Here the Dominion had no experience in quad Battle Armour use.  Instead they ‘solved’ the problem by brute force, using large numbers of freeborn Volunteers who took part in the program as well as Elementals approaching what would, in Clan terms be Solhama age.  It took eighteen months but the training and development programme did establish a pool of trained personnel familiar with the suits as well as the first doctrine and tactics for their use and how they could be used to support Dominion forces. 
This in turn lead to the development of two variants of the base chassis with different weapon loadouts for different roles.  Unfortunately, the two variants do not feature the Fire Resistant armour of the standard version and use normal plate, meaning that they are not fully interchangeable.  Although less protected than the Golem, the newly developed Bjorn (Bear in Norwegian) was much faster, easily able to keep pace with the growing number of Elemental II’s that were entering service.  And although slower than the Buraq its heavier firepower and protection allowed them to engage the swifter and more agile suits although the Horses still held the edge in better trained warriors for their quad design.

Variants

It should be noted that one nickname that sprang up during the testing phase stuck with the suit, and it is often referred to, all be it unofficially as the Ursault Battle armour.

‘Hunter’ - The standard version of the Bjorn, the Hunter has enough Fire Resistant armour on it to rival a Kanazuchi Battle suit and means it is capable of taking a hit from an ER PPC and surviving, all be it barely.  Built to engage opponents at long and short range the Hunter is equipped with a Battle Armour LB-X autocannon that was won off the Wolves in a Trial on Tukkayid.  This heavy cannon gives the suit a powerful ranged punch and has greater endurance than a missile rack.  A machine gun and a pair of AP mounts round out the weapons load and give the Hunter a heavy punch against infantry forces. 
Also of note is the suits sensors which are very finely tuned to let it detect heat sources.  Although not quite so useful on an active battlefield alive with thermal signatures, it does allow the suit to passively hunt for targets.

‘Mauler’ – Unlike the Hunter, the Mauler is a dedicated anti-infantry and battle armour suit, although its firepower does not mean that larger units are safe either.  Replacing the heavy Fire-Resistant plate with normal armour the Mauler is armed with a Heavy Flamer and a pair of standard machine guns which allow it to obliterate infantry in moments and cripple hostile battle suits.  One tactic that evolved was firing a ‘wet-squirt’ of propellant for the flamer at dug in hostiles before demanding their surrender.  Knowing that the next shot will be a full one is often enough to get all but the most fanatical troops to come out of hiding.  The Mauler also expands upon the Hunter’s sensors, upgrading them to a full array of improved sensors, allowing it to actively and passively hunt for targets in the worst battlefield conditions.

‘Roar’ – The third but probably not last variant of the Bjorn, the Roar is built to support other units and does this with an LRM-5 with six reloads.  An ER-Micro laser provides firepower at shorter ranges.  The suit was initially meant to have reactive armour, but it was found to be far too heavy, so instead they just increased the protection, making the Roar the most heavily armoured of the Bjorn suits.  Unfortunately to fit the reloads it does mean that this suit, even though it weighs 2-tons is horribly cramped and uncomfortable as all space is given over to the missiles, making it also the least popular of the variants despite its effectiveness.

Hunter



Mauler



Roar



All drawn by the amazing Matt Plog - https://mattplog.deviantart.com/

As always, thoughts and comments are most welcome!



« Last Edit: 11 January 2018, 10:40:48 by marauder648 »
Ghost Bears: Cute and cuddly. Until you remember its a BLOODY BEAR!

Project Zhukov Fan AU TRO's and PDFs - https://thezhukovau.wordpress.com/

AldanFerrox

  • Master Sergeant
  • *
  • Posts: 314
Re: Bjorn Assault Battle Armour
« Reply #1 on: 11 January 2018, 13:37:03 »
Awesome job. I wish that the Bjorn was a canon unit.
Only in death duty ends

Blackhorse 6

  • Night Stalker Moderator
  • Global Moderator
  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 1455
  • Uh huh...
Re: Bjorn Assault Battle Armour
« Reply #2 on: 11 January 2018, 13:43:32 »
My unit would like to place an order...  :)

Hptm. Streiger

  • Lieutenant
  • *
  • Posts: 968
  • 3d artist, spread sheet warrior, KTF
Re: Bjorn Assault Battle Armour
« Reply #3 on: 12 January 2018, 01:49:00 »
LAHAT style SRMs [drool]

Phobos

  • Warrant Officer
  • *
  • Posts: 664
Re: Bjorn Assault Battle Armour
« Reply #4 on: 28 January 2018, 07:37:27 »
Very neat, an actual totem Ghost Bear BA. I guess you might as well have simply called it "Ghost Bear", given its looks rather than Bjorn :)