Clan Medium Battle Armor - Technical Readout 3075 page 121
The Clan Medium Battle Armor - or Rabid, as it's also known and as I shall refer to it during most of this article - is a result of Clan Nova Cat's attempts to replace the irreplaceable in the aftermath of their Abjuration. Exiled from the Clan tree house and forever cast down among the unwashed masses of the Inner Sphere, the Nova Cats found themselves faced with the horrifying prospect of running out of Elemental Battle Armor.
Unlike the other Clans which moved to the Inner Sphere, the Cats didn't exactly get much time to prepare and so they found themselves needing to find replacements for all those units they'd built in their holdings in Clanspace or sourced from other Clans, with one of those units being the Elemental. The more curmudgeonly among us might be asking at this point why they didn't just directly copy the Elemental; after all, they were going to have to build a new Battle Armor factory, so why not save themselves the design stage, with the delays and potential for failure that might ensue? The answer to that is quite simple: the Nova Cats are idiots. Luckily, their questionable decision making didn't affect their ability to produce a Battle Armor suit that, while not as capable overall as the Elemental, was at least a decent design.
As the name suggests, the Clan Medium Battle Armor is a Medium Battle Armor design, and was first seen under the moniker of Clan Battle Armor in Mechwarrior Dark Age back in 2002. I'll leave discussion of that game to those who inflicted it upon themselves and instead move on to the design's first appearance in real BattleTech with the 2003 publication of Record Sheets Mechwarrior Dark Age I, not long after Classic BattleTech Companion gave us construction rules. The write up for the design in that sourcebook includes some details that are left out in the Rabid's later appearances in Combat Equipment and Technical Readout 3075, such as ComStar's assistance in obtaining the Jump Booster technology and the Hell's Horses' acquisition of the design by capturing Clan Wolf suits. It's even acknowledged that the design will eventually find itself in Inner Sphere hands, noting that they're then deployed in squads of four instead of Point of five.
Starting with the Elemental as a template, the Jump Booster is the key to the changes made to the design, with the Clan Scientists needing to find ways to save mass to compensate for the installation of the Booster. Obviously, there are only two main areas to look at, armor and weaponry, and the Cats' Scientists tapped both wellsprings. The decision to reduce the armor from ten to nine points was not only driven by the need for mass, but can also be viewed as symbolic of the Cats' exile to the Inner Sphere, where the standard armor protection for Medium trooper designs was also nine points. This reduction in protection obviously means the Rabid can now be destroyed by a single shot from heavier weapons such as Clan Large Pulse Lasers and class ten Autocannons. Unfortunately, the increase in jump mobility didn't result in an increased ability to generate Target Movement Modifiers, which means that the Rabid is more vulnerable than the Elemental.
The armament is where the Rabid suffered its greatest weight savings, losing its Modular Weapon Mount and a quarter of the primary weapon payload to instead install a fixed Flamer, together with the addition of a pair of fixed one-shot SRM launchers that replace the original reloadable and detachable launcher. Although these alterations provided the necessary 125kg for the Jump Boosters, the Rabid also switched from a single Battle Claw to a pair of Basic Manipulators to retain the Anti-'Mech and Mechanized Battle Armor capabilities, although that creates a problem with respect to the artwork. Like the Federated Suns' Infiltrator Mk II, which also relies upon twin Basic Manipulators, the Rabid is shown with its right hand completely enshrouded by its primary weapon, which technically should make the suit incapable of Anti-'Mech attacks, although this is hand waved away.
jymset: Yeah, well, the Angerona is another one that qualifies for that. And like the Infiltrator II (and the Fa Shih), the Angerona is even lacking a clear AP Weapon Mount, but before I digress just this: the rules are always in some ways an abstraction. We know those suits have another basic manipulator hidden in the sleeve of the weapon and only the Clan Medium does not address this in some way in the text. The Puma does say that "one of those hands is encased within the hardpoint when fitted with a support-class weapon, while the other is a fully articulated claw" implying that the suit is good to go as-is, while the Angerona "requires the rifle to be unlimbered if [it] is to best ride on the exterior of another unit". So the implication could be that the Puma never unlimbers, the one manipulator being strong enough for the attacks, while the Angerona always unlimbers, even when only using mechanized transportation (requiring only 1 manipulator)?
We have a wonderful game with detailed rules, yet thankfully, still also have a certain amount of creative freedom. The Clan Medium features a weapon on one of its "hands". It still works. O0
One final change was made to the Rabid's armament that is mass neutral, with the exchange of the Elemental's Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount for a chest-mounted Searchlight. Although offering some use in night combat by illuminating a target - as well as alerting enemy troops to the location of the Rabid Point, of course - overall I'd have to say that this was one of the poorer design decisions, removing the last vestiges of configurability as well as resulting in a small reduction in firepower. If the night combat capability really was that important, I'd have just taken the mass from the 15kg spare after the unnecessary removal of the Battle Armor, enabling the secondary mount to stay.
The choice of the Flamer was perhaps questionable under the BattleTech Master Rules, where only machine guns received a bonus against conventional infantry, but with the coming of Total War it is definitely the best option from among the original troika of Small Laser, Flamer and Machine Gun, if you have to go for a single fixed weapon. While not as hard hitting as the heavier Small Laser, the Flamer is far more effective against PBIs and has the ability to inflict heat instead of damage, giving the Rabid a degree of flexibility despite the lack of modularity. Falling behind both those, the Machine Gun's only advantage is its even lighter weight and fluff concerns, such as less likelihood of collateral damage than the Flamer. On the down side, the decision by the Cats to opt for a fixed Flamer cut them off from the ability to deploy the AP Gauss Rifle when that was eventually developed.
Although intended as a weight saver, the switch to a pair of fixed one-shot SRM2s actually improved upon the Elemental's missile capability. Unlike the older design, the Rabid can salvo both launchers for a double strength attack, instead of staggering them to mimic the endurance of the Elemental's reloadable weapon system. In addition, there's the shake and bake option of a mixed load, using standard SRMs in one launcher and Infernos in the second. The Rabid's launchers did lose the ability to detach from the suit, which gave a small boost in agility in the RPG environment in the old rules, but under A Time Of War this currently has no effect. Like the manipulator issue noted above, the artwork also causes problems for the missiles: with the installation of the Jump Boosters, there simply isn't enough room in the torso for both SRM systems, resulting in one being assigned to the left arm, presumably as some form of shoulder mount rather than a backpack mount. Likewise, the chest-mounted Searchlight has also found itself in the left arm, which can be viewed as an even more clumsy solution, but one that was unavoidable in the circumstances.
Clan Nova Cat Scientists had begun development of the Rabid at the end of the 3061, reaching prototype testing by August 3062, when the events of the conflict between the Combine and the Ghost Bears intervened, delaying final production until mid 3067. Within the Nova Cats' Touman, the Clan Medium Battle Armor rapidly spread through the ranks and, as revealed in Technical Readout 3075, it was there that it earned its nickname of Rabid, although the reason for this isn't given. Once the Rabid became available, the remaining Elementals were reserved for use by high-ranking commanders - remember what I said about idiots? Why not put a flashing beacon on the heads of the command Points while you're at it, I'm sure the enemy won't be interested in targeting them - although even then the Cats are forced to deploy the Combine's Void among their secondline units.
jymset: Uh, it's not like the Clans are very much into subterfuge. The people deserving the best, well, get it. And by being best, they can easily weather any increased incoming fire...right? ...Bueller? sillybrit: Sadly, Star Colonel Bueller can't reply. The Blakist forward observer spotted his Elemental and called in an artillery strike. Oopsie. The Star Colonel really should have taken the day off. ;)
Cosmetically, the new suit was a big change from the smooth clean lines of the Elemental, with samurai-like styling in recognition of the Cat's new association with the Draconis Combine. This appearance led to the Jade Falcons rejecting the design as being tainted by its Inner Sphere origin when they were eventually in a position to obtain the Rabid for themselves, which could even be seen as a foreshadowing of the Wars of Reaving - I have to wonder how those Falcon decision makers feel now, knowing that they're viewed with the same disdain by the Homeworld Clans. The Diamond Sharks felt no such contempt, instead seeing a perfect opportunity for profit, bless their little Ferengi hearts. Offering the Cats a discount on much needed supplies of weapons and other equipment, the Sharks purchased the blueprints and put the design into production on three of their holdings.
The Clans' travelling Walmarteers were soon peddling the Rabid to other Clans and, it was rumored, even to the Wolves-In-Exile and Inner Sphere factions. The latter resulted in a scandal and spat back in Clanspace, ultimately leading to fighting in orbit over Strana Mechty, and although the Rabid did appear in Wolves-In-Exile colors, whether the rumors regarding the Spheroids were true or not at the time isn't certain. As noted earlier, in Mechwarrior Dark Age, some Inner Sphere factions do operate Clan Battle Armor, but given the intervening decades by then the situation had changed completely, with the Sharks and other Inner Sphere Clans no longer under the auspices of the Clan Council.
jymset: FM85 now confirms that the rumour regarding Inner Sphere sales is true even before the start of the proper Dark Age, with the Rabid showing up on DC, FS, and RotS RATs. Although rejected by the Jade Falcons, the Sharks found the Wolves and Ghost Bears to be willing buyers, with both developing their own variants after a few years, while the Sharks still pondered whether this was a wise move under the Rules of Acquisition. Even though the Bears deployed few Clan Medium Battle Armor suits in their ground forces, they did develop the first of the new variants in 3070, intended for use by their shipboard marines. Nicknamed the Bär, the Bears' variant removes the missile launchers to allow the Flamer to be replaced by a Micro Pulse Laser, together with the installation of a Heavy Battle Vibro-Claw on the left arm and an Extended Life Support system in the torso. Sadly, under the marine boarding rules from Tactical Operations, neither of these changes results in any improvement in the Bär's performance during marine operations. However, in RPG terms the Vibro-Claw could no doubt be useful for cutting open bulkheads and such, while the laser better fits the image of a high-tech weapon for space operations. Outside of marine operations, the Bär possess an above average Anti-'Mech ability, is well suited for tackling fast moving or other difficult to hit targets, and retains a respectable anti-infantry performance thanks to its pulse laser.
Many good designs have a variant that's a dog, and in this case it's all thanks to the Wolves. Like the Bär, the Volk, the Wolves' version of the Rabid, is also somewhat relegated to the sidelines, even being assigned to the Wolves' solahma units - some might ask why the Wolves are wasting
any Battle Armor on solahma, when they already have skin to protect them - in addition to their second-line troops. The Volk was apparently only intended as a short term solution to cope with the dwindling numbers of Elemental suits, with two new factories for the latter intended to go online in the late 3070s, and at one point it was uncertain whether they would continue using the Clan Medium Battle Armor design at all.
Given the changes the Wolves Scientists made to the Rabid to produce the Volk, it's fairly obvious why their troops were so unimpressed. Opting to use one of the worst weapons in the Clan Battle Armor arsenal, the Flamer was exchanged for an ER Micro Laser, thereby losing the heat and burst-fire capability for the sake of an extra hex at Long range. It could have been worse I suppose - after all, the Sharks had been looking into using autocannons, and we could have instead seen the horror that is known as the Bearhunter - but the Wolf Scientists involved definitely needed a whack on the snout with a rolled up newspaper. The twin SRM2s were also swapped for a single SRM3, again one-shot, further downgrading the armament, with the saved mass used to upgrade the left arm manipulator to a Heavy Battle Claw. If they really wanted a proper Battle Claw, I have to ask: why not just use the spare 15kg that remained unused on the Rabid chassis? This change added nothing while removing flexibility and reducing firepower, but just when you might think that the Wolves had caught the Nova Cats' idiot bug, they come out with the sublime Rache variant in 3077.
Introduced in the Old Is The New New section of Technical Readout 3085, the Rache is a great design, which some players even prefer over the old Elemental. I don't fall into that category, but it's easy to understand why the fans of the Rache are so enamored: by replacing the Rabid's Flamer with a Machine Gun, they saved enough mass to increase the armor to ten points
and add an extra tube to both SRM2s. Yes, that's right: a Rache Point can throw 30 SRMs at you in a single massive salvo. If only they'd kicked that oversized flashlight to touch and reinstalled an Anti-Personnel Weapon Mount, but I suppose I shouldn't be greedy.
Overall, you're going to operate most of the Clan Medium Battle Armor models similar to how you use the Elemental. The Bär is the one exception due to its lack of missile armament and thus its inability to threaten any targets beyond the ninety meter range of its Micro Pulse Laser, but given the battlefield that it's intended for, this is a forgivable weakness. The other three versions can all operate identically to the early Elemental configurations; although once the AP Gauss Rifle is available they cannot really compete with the sustained long-range firepower of that weapon. The lighter armor of the Rabid and Volk (and Bär), can lead to heavier casualties, but as shown by suits like the IS Standard, it's not a crippling weakness, with the Clan suits also getting the advantage of larger unit sizes to help keep individual troopers alive for longer.
Although the increased jump capability doesn't generate a greater Target Movement Modifier, it does help the Clan Medium Battle Armor keep up with heavier units when Omnis or other infantry carriers are unavailable. It's not unheard of for Rabid Points to even outpace some 'Mechs and vehicles in rougher terrain and the improved jump performance can also help in cities and hilly or mountainous areas, enabling the design to jump over higher buildings or terrain that would block suits like the Elemental. Unwary opponents can also be caught unawares by the increased jump distance, mistakenly believing themselves safe from the threat of attack, and suddenly finding themselves taking hits or even being Swarmed or kneecapped.
Without the Elemental, the Clan Medium Battle Armor would no doubt be held up as the best Medium design available, or at least a strong contender. It does possess advantages over the older suit, but as discussed in the Elemental's Battle Armor of the Week article, that design is so well balanced that to improve one area almost inevitably leads to a reduction in another; unlike the IS Standard, for example, which can be easily upgraded for no loss of performance elsewhere. The Nova Cats would continue their search to supplement and replace their fading supplies of Elementals, but really they could have rested on their laurels. While the Bär is at its best in confined battlefields, and the Volk is at least serviceable, both the original Rabid and the later Rache are effective and capable designs that serve their Clans well.
Next up:
- Afreet
- Rottweiler
- Nighthawk
- Tornado
