Karhu – Bear in Finnish (aka Moonspeak, there’s a reason Tolkien based Elven on Finnish!)
Karhu – A 65 Tonne heavy Mech in service with the Ghost Bear Dominion
Karhu – Aka It can jump HOW far!?!
HistoryWith the Bear’s settling into their new home in the former Rasalhague Republic they began a serious effort to integrate rather than segregate themselves from the populace. One of the main efforts of this was with industry, with the main Mech manufacturers in FRR space being rebuilt and upgraded to Clan-tech levels to help rebuild the Clan and former KungsArmé Tourman.
Odin Manufacturing and Bergen Industries were the main recipients of this tech boost and started working on Mech’s to be marketed to the Dominion. Bergen hit the ground running with the Arcas, a nasty 65 tonne multi-role (and awesome looking) bruiser and in essence the Karhu is its competitor.
Both machines weigh the same at 65 tonnes and move as fast as one another with an 86kph speed, the folks at Odin though tried to appeal to Rasalhague nationalism as well as the habits of the former KungsArmé MechWarrior’s when designing their new machine. Backed up by a huge ad campaign (and smear campaign) as well as intercompany bickering that utterly threw the still Socialist minded Bears who were not use to Merchants and Scientists (as they saw them) engaging in political warfare. They sent in Merchants to try and sort this situation out, but it only got worse when their Merchants started taking sides…fun times! Another problem that has sprung up is the Karhu’s computer systems seem to be riddled with electrical gremlins which can and do cause software problems. The bickering over this has not helped relations between Odin and Bergen Industries whilst it also seems that nothing short of a complete replacement of the computer systems will resolve this problem.
Built in time just to catch the end of the Jihad the ad campaign and heavy industrial pressure seems to have made the Karhu be an economic success story, with it being built in large numbers and deployed across the Bear’s Tourman although it is not apparently being offered for export. What this means for the Arcas is unknown, both are capable machines and both should be able to serve alongside one another without any difficulty and I can only assume the Arcas remains in production.
Design.When you look at it, the Karhu is a Summoner, just 5 tonnes lighter and better designed. The machine makes full use of weight saving technology and features a XL engine, Endo Steel Skeleton and Ferro Fibrous armour. All this weight saved gives it a good solid 30 tonnes of pod space to exploit and use with the only fixed equipment being a pair of Heatsinks added to the engine, bringing the cooling up to 24 before you add any more. This is considerably more than the Summoner’s 22.5 tonnes of pod space and is even more than the poorly protected Hellbringer’s 28.5 tonnes, this gives the Dominion a LOT to play with in terms of weapons fits.
The physical design of the Mech features the now almost standard Dominion BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! SKULLS FOR THE SKULL MECH! Approach that started with the Gurren Lagann..I mean Ursus. Although not quite to the stylised degree, instead they went for a more subtle approach and just had the shoulder guards formed into skull like faces. The armour for the Karhu, all 10.5 tonnes of it is well laid out as well with the chest capable of taking a pair of Gauss slugs before being breached. The side torso’s can withstand an AC-20 and then Small laser hit whilst the arms require an AC-20 hit to strip them of armour. The legs can also take an AC-20 followed by a IS Medium Pulse laser. This is superior protection to the heavier Summoner the Karhu is presumably replacing despite being 5 tonnes lighter.
Powered by a 325 rated XL engine as mentioned, the Karhu can hit 86kph at full speed and although no jump jets are fixed, all models feature them as part of their equipment load-outs, some more than others as you shall see.
VariantsPrime – When I first saw the Prime I was a bit…well underwhelmed and at first glance the Prime is woefully under-gunned. A fearsome ER PPC makes up the Mech’s main punch and is mounted in the right arm whilst an ER Medium laser sits atop the big cannon. Living in the right arm is a Plasma Cannon that is fed by a rather meagre 1 tonne ammo bin and…well..that’s it.
“Where’s all that tonnage gone?” I hear you think or ask..well it went other places. Filling out the left, right and centre torso are enough improved jump jets to throw the Karhu into huge 210 meter jumps. Yep, that’s a 65 tonner with the jump capabilities of a light Mech and whilst hugely weight intensive, taking up a massive 14 tonnes, the Improved Jump Jets give the Karhu a massive amount of manoeuvrability (5/8/7 in game terms).
Also in a nod (or appeal) to the KungsArmé's love of melee combat the Karhu’s right arm is fitted with a Retractable Blade shaped into a three pronged claw with blades several meters long that would allow the Mech to land rather brutal wind-milling punches or pawing like sweeping strikes. Finally an ECM is buried in the Mech’s right torso as well. The Dominion clearly having well learned the lessons of the Jihad when facing the C3I heavy Word of Blake forces.
Whilst under-gunned the Prime is scary mobile thanks to its IJJ’s and I would imagine that the Clan pilots would not touch this variant with a stick, and its built for former KungsArmé Mechwarrior’s, mainly because of the inclusion of the melee weapon.
Alfa – Stepping away from the close combat mind-set of the Prime, the Alfa is more akin to the Summoner Prime with a thunder and lightning approach to its firepower. The biggest change is that this variant mounts standard jump jets instead of improved ones and can ‘only’ leap to 150 meters like the classic Summoner, which is still not nothing to laugh at. The heavy and bulky retractable blade is gone and the weapons fit is heavily re-worked.
For its main punch the Alfa features a Gauss Rifle that draws from the standard 2 tonne ammo bin giving it enough shots for a standard battle and is the ‘thunder’ of this variant’s punch and fills out the left arm with its bulk. Backing up the Gauss is a standard LRM-10 with a one tonne ammo bin both of which live in the left torso.
The lightning comes in the form of an array of lasers mounted like those in the hand of a Kodiak, with a Large pulse laser, an ER Medium and Micro Pulse laser mounted in the housing that formerly held the retractable blade in a weapons load out that is quite reminiscent of the original Ursus, just scaled up.
In my mind this variant is the one that is aimed at Clan MechWarrior’s, the long range punch screams CLAN for warriors who would not want to drive a machine with a melee weapon on it and with its firepower and performance this variant fills the tactical gap of the Summoner that needed to be filled with the loss of access to the Homeworld’s manufacturing plants and the fact the Falcons are not sharing out their Summoner’s. This Machine moves at the standard 5/8/5 of the Summoner as does every config from here on save the Golf.
Bravo – A young Gladiator/Executioner Bravo the Karhu Bravo is built to get in your face and press its autocannon against your chest before smiling coldly. To this end the Bravo features 5 standard jump jets giving it a 150 meter jumping range and any tonnage saved is then devoted to the weapons and electronics. A brutal and lethal Ultra AC-20 fills out the left arm whilst a very generous four tonnes of ammo give the big gun the longevity it needs when firing at double rates. A trio of ER Medium lasers live in the claw like mounting on the right arm and an extra two tonnes of heatsinks are added to help with the heat burden. Oh..one small thing, these are ALL tied into a targeting computer which helps make the Mech deadly accurate; but its complete lack of long ranged weapons mean you have to be careful getting into range to use this meaty punch.
But if one of these gets close, all I can say is “Close your eyes baby…” and suggest looking away, it will hurt, but only for a moment.
Charlie – Built for mid to long range engagements the Charlie is built for direct fire support roles. To this end it carries an Ultra AC-5 in each torso with each cannon drawing from a somewhat meagre tonne of ammo each. The 150 meter jump range remains making this a rather mobile fire support platform whilst the energy armament consists of a classic ER Large Laser with a co-axial ER Medium laser lashed to it in the left arm. Curiously though the Retractable Blade is back in its right arm mounting, giving the Charlie a rather fearsome looking incentive to not get too close as you really don’t want to play tag in melee range with a Mech with a retractable blade.
Exceptionally cool running the Charlie can engage for as long as its ammo bins hold out and as long as it can see you, and with its jump jets, that’s going to be a long time.
Delta – Designed presumably for long battles or deep raiding the Delta’s a brutal (and brutally expensive in BV terms at 3118, you can buy an Assault Mech for that) combatant and the most heavily armed of the Karhu variants. The Mech’s main punch comes from a pair of ER PPC’s that fill out the left arm in a side by side mounting. A trio of ER Medium lasers fit into the retractable blade’s housing in the right arm whilst a Streak SRM-6 rack and its one tonne of ammo sit in the left torso.
The electronics of the Delta have been extensively re-worked and enlarged with a targeting computer sitting pride of place to tie its weapons together. An active probe and ECM round out the electronics suite whilst a pair of AMS, one in each torso shield the machine from incoming missiles, whilst drawing from a shared 1 tonne ammo bin. An additional four heatsinks, giving you 32 heat dissipation work to let you fire the PPC’s and run but slapping the alpha strike button is seriously not recommended unless you’re feeling lucky or bold.
Golf – More akin to a Gladiator/Executioner India variant the Karhu Golf is a speedster with a lethal if close ranged punch. The biggest thing to note is the addition of a supercharger, which pushes it up to just shy of 100kph whilst also retaining its 150 meter jumps. In game this is 5/8(10)/5 in movement terms. A single Improved Heavy Large Laser in the left arm forms the main throw weight of the machine whilst a trio of ER Medium lasers live in the right arm. For barrage work a quartet of Streak SRM-4’s are spread between the left and right torso with the four launchers sharing two tonnes of ammo between them which is really enough for all but the longest of engagements. The rest of the tonnage is filled out with heatsinks giving it 18 double heatsinks in total to combat the ferocious heat load of its weapons array.
Finally a Light TAG is mounted in the head, allowing the Golf to spot for artillery which is becoming more prevalent amongst the Dominion in recent years (*cough*Polaris*cough*).
Thoughts.The Karhu is quite simply a formidable machine regardless of variant you field, if a bit pricey on the BV pocket (save the Charlie it’s not even 2100 points!) and is definitely a suitable replacement for the Summoner/Thor in frontline Dominion service whilst the Arcas and its non-Omni status could see it sent to second line units or less prestigious ones despite its performance.
The Karhu combines firepower (for the most part) with typical Clan speed and agility without having any really bonkers variants or weapons fits. Instead the design is exceptionally rational and built for its role and its built within rather tight parameters meaning its usually no alpha strike boat.
The Prime is the fast Cavalry Mech for Spheroid pilots, the Alpha its Clan pilot equivalent, the Bravo is built for close quarters/tight confines engagements against Mech’s and tanks whilst Carlie provides fire support, Delta’s the heavy raider and Golf a short range psychopath. They are built for these roles and that is what they do, and do pretty darn well. If you have the BV for it, you really won’t go wrong with a Karhu in your line up.
Fighting one is more a case of being prepared to take a pounding whilst doing so. All save the Bravo and Golf are built with weapons that can reach out and touch a foe at long range and the Karhu is uniformly agile thanks to its jump jets whilst the Prime is scary fast thanks to its massive leaping distance. Also a thing to note, if you’re facing a Prime its almost certainly got an Inner Sphere pilot in it who will have no objection to running/jumping up to you and then slapping you silly with three 3 meter long claws and this could also mean that Zell’s not a thing so be prepared to be ganged up on by Clan Mech’s which is *fun experience.
Hitting them hard and working to overheat them with Inferno/Plasma rounds is your best bet really, the Karhu is a bit light on heatsinks so if you start pushing up their heat dials they won’t be able to respond quite so well.
*Fun in this sense means getting your teeth pulled out without any anaesthetic through the medium of the Karhu ramming its claws through your Mech’s faceplate.
*please note that with the Golf the data may be incorrect as I don’t have that in any TRO I have and have had to get it off Sarna and fill any gaps with REMLAB that showed it would be massively under weight as was.
As always comments, thoughts and criticism are most welcome :)