Ekdromoi Battle Armor
Type: Ekdromoi
Manufacturer: Protectorate Arms Conglomerate
Primary Factory: Diik
Tech Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Chassis Type: Biped
Weight Class: Medium
Maximum Weight: 1,000 kg
Battle Value: 372
Swarm/Leg Attack/Mechanized/AP: No/Yes/Yes/No
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Equipment Slots Mass
Chassis: 175 kg
Motive System:
Ground MP: 1 0 kg
Jump MP: 3 150 kg
Manipulators:
Left Arm: Manipulator (Basic) 0 kg
Right Arm: Manipulator (Basic) 0 kg
Armor: Standard (Basic) 0 400 kg
Armor Value: 9 (Trooper)
Slots
Weapons and Equipment Location (Capacity) Mass
Machine Gun Right Arm 1 100 kg
Mine Dispenser Left Arm 2 50 kg
Anti Personnel Weapon Mount Left Arm 1 5 kg
Magnetic Clamps Right Arm 2 30 kg
LRM 2 Body 3 80 kg
Overview:
Named for an ancient Greek type of foot solder, the Ekdromoi medium battle armor was an attempt by the Calderon Protectorate to create their own "trooper" style of battle armor for use on the modern battlefield.
The Ekdromoi was created at the behest of the Calderon Protectorate to solve its manpower problems entering the 32nd century. With a total multi-planetary population of under 1 billion, the Protectorate found that while it could train mechwarriors, pilots, and vehicle crews it could not maintain a strong enough infantry force. While the Calderon Institute of Combat could train competent officers and non-coms, the Protectorate simply could not find the bodies required to fill regular infantry platoons.
The Protectorate Defense Forces turned to battle armor to strengthen what infantry troops they had. The Protectorate Arms Conglomeration had a great success with the Spectre light battle armor, which proved quite successful as an inexpensive special operators suit in the Protectorate and throughout the Periphery. The PDC turned to them to create a "Trooper" suit to be used in the place of rank and file industry.
Capabilities:
The Conglomerate began with a study of suits that were already well known throughout the galaxy, namely the Capellan Confederations Fa Shih suit and the widely available "Inner Sphere Standard" armor produced by no less than a dozen manufacturers. The Conglomerate wanted to mix the traits of the two, if possible.
From the Fa Shih they chose to adapt the mine-laying technology and the magnetic clamping system. The clamping system the had already gained some experience with on the Specter, and though the magnets would need to be strengthened to accommodate the additional mass, that problem was quickly solved.
The mine-layer proved to be a different issue. Though it was a mature technology by the time the Conglomerate was working with it, the many small moving parts proved to be difficult to manufacture. In addition, the safety interlocks that kept the mines from arming before being placed proved to be problematic, leading to many instances in the Ekdromoi's early years where deployed mines failed to arm. These would be eventually solved through a Mk1a variant of the deployed mine and a firmware update.
The Conglomerate looked the the "Inner Sphere Standard" suit for its ease of construction. They actually purchased and examined several variants from all over the Inner Sphere to gain insight into the various manufacturing variations, to learn what might work best for them.
Unlike the "Standard: suit however the Ekdromoi does not make use of a modular weapon mount, preferring instead to standardize on a right-arm mounted machine gun. This weapon was chose for its effectiveness against armored targets as well as its utility against infantry.
The lone innovation that the Conglomerate did make was to include a detachable long-ranged missile launcher. PDC doctrine called for invaders to be engaged from long ranges if possible, and the long range launcher allowed for that. This gives the Ekdromoi an effective engagement range of over 600 meters, rare for any battle armor.
Deployment:
The Ekdromoi first saw deployment starting in 3110. The relatively simple manufacture of the suit sped its production, with the factory reaching full capacity within two years. The Protectorate Arms Conglomerate would also manufacture its own "Inner Sphere Standard" suit alongside the Ekdromoi, primarily for export.
