Author Topic: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!  (Read 10361 times)

marauder648

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MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« on: 30 October 2015, 05:41:39 »
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!?!

History

With 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.


Variants

Prime – 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 :)
« Last Edit: 30 October 2015, 08:54:20 by marauder648 »
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Nightsong

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #1 on: 30 October 2015, 06:54:01 »
Do super chargers calculate the speed change differently from MASC? If not, shouldn't the Golf be 5/8[10]/5? Otherwise, Nasty little sucker.

Kojak

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #2 on: 30 October 2015, 07:30:15 »
Solid review of an excellent unit. I'm not sure I agree with your analysis of the A config re: it's being inspired by the Summoner Prime. Rather, it seems clear to me it's just a high-mobility version of the Grizzly. It just swaps the medium and small pulse laser of the Grizz for an ER medium and micro pulse laser, respectively; other than that, armament-wise, it's identical.


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marauder648

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #3 on: 30 October 2015, 07:34:46 »
Solid review of an excellent unit. I'm not sure I agree with your analysis of the A config re: it's being inspired by the Summoner Prime. Rather, it seems clear to me it's just a high-mobility version of the Grizzly. It just swaps the medium and small pulse laser of the Grizz for an ER medium and micro pulse laser, respectively; other than that, armament-wise, it's identical.

...I kinda forgot about the Grizzly. Good point Sir/Madame!
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wantec

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #4 on: 30 October 2015, 07:47:57 »
Design.
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. 
Actually you missed a third skull. I don't blame you since you can't see it in the TRO artwork, only on the MWDA mini. If you look from straight head-on you'll see the "stomach" and "chest" area forms a subtle skull. Taken from cavingjan's Warrenborn


To me the A variant I think looks more like a smaller, faster Grizzly than a Summoner. Likewise, the D looks like a Hellbringer Prime, without some of the smaller parts.

For the G, some minor corrections since you don't have the record sheet. It has 18 DHS, and only 2 tons of SSRM ammo, more than enough for the 4 racks. And Nightsong is correct, the Supercharger pushes it to 5/8[10]/5 speed. The 18 DHS lets you run and fire all the lasers and lose 1 point of heat. You only would gain heat by using the jump jets or if the Streaks fire.

You forgot one variant, but it's unique so I don't blame you, the Karhu Syngman, it's from Dossiers: Lamenkov's Liability. That pdf-only product was designed to go with the TRO3085 Lance pack that had a Karhu, Prefect, Osprey, and Thunderbolt. The story with that variant is that it was gifted to Sygnman Seong-Hwan by a Ghost Bear who had joined the Republic and years later died from wounds received in combat. The 'Mech was damaged and without replacement parts Syngman used the closest IS tech he could to fix it. It's basically an IS version of the Prime, HPPC, ERML, Plasma Rifle, Retractable Blade, Guardian ECM. Because the IS tech is so much heavier, the jump jets were stripped and the only tonnage left was used on a C3 Slave and a Beagle Active Probe and a few extra DHS to bump it up to 15. On its own it's not a bad 'Mech, but compared to the Clan variants it just doesn't stack up.



Taking a brief Alpha Strike look at it, the A and C variants are Snipers, the rest ar Skirmishers. The cheapest is not the Syngman, but the Prime at 42 points (Syngman is 43) and the most expensive is the D at 51. At short and medium ranges the two heaviest hitters are the G (7/7) and B (6/6) with Prime causing a measly 2/2. At long range the B and G drop to 0 while the A and D top out at 4 points with the C close behind at 3 points. The variety really comes in the speed/jumping differences and in the Specials.
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marauder648

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #5 on: 30 October 2015, 07:56:40 »
Perfect i'll get to updating that and thanks for the heads up :) I didn't know what TRO the G was in so went off Sarna's.
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VhenRa

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #6 on: 30 October 2015, 08:07:18 »
Wasn't there another config in the (original, might have been errata'ed) RS: 3085 Unabridged? What was in that listed as the C, but wasn't the C in the TRO? (The configs were all jumbled up IIRC, TRO Prime wasn't in there, TRO C was RS Prime, RS C wasn't in TRO. Equipment in different location from TRO...)

marauder648

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #7 on: 30 October 2015, 08:13:53 »
I've got the TRO's but not the data sheets for the mech's and variants at home. 
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Adgar76

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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #8 on: 30 October 2015, 08:17:47 »
The Delta is really a beast. The loadout is almost identical to that of an Hellbringer Prime (probably it's a direct replacement for it), only without the kinks!

marauder648

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #9 on: 30 October 2015, 10:25:52 »
Its why I thought the Karhu is a replacement for the Summoner, the Alfa config seems to be the more general purpose one and its firepower is roughly in a similar pattern to the Summoner Primes, big energy weapon and big ballistic, fast, agile too.  The Delta as you said seems to be basically a Hellbringer Prime, a mech that was probably not very common in Bear service but carries out a similar role without the Hell-binger's massive flaws.

Kojak pointed out that the A's basically a Grizzly and we know that whilst that mech's weapons array is potent the Mech itself was a bit of a failure due to technical issues making it a difficult to maintain hangar queen that's probably been all but retired or scrapped due to it being a SOB to keep working.  It's a weapons fit we see duplicated on the larger Bruin assault mech which again is a near carbon copy of the Karhu A/Grizzly's weapons load on an assault chassis.

Without the Homeworlds production facilities the Bears who have always had a somewhat top heavy tourman would need a replacement for the usual Clan staples that we saw introduced in 3050 and the Karhu nicely fills the Summoner/Hellbringer slot.  I don't think they have an equivalent of the Timberwolf whilst the various flavours of Ursii are filling out the 50 tonne slot taken by the Nova whilst they also have the many flavours of Mad Dog to call upon.  The Kuma's basically a fat medium or Stormcrow kind of thing lacking its modular flexibility. 

If its a replacement/filler for the Hell/Summoner/Grizzly (which i'm assuming would be retired by now) whilst the Arcas is given to 2nd line forces it makes a lot of sense really.
« Last Edit: 30 October 2015, 10:29:27 by marauder648 »
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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #10 on: 30 October 2015, 10:30:17 »
Great balanced machine for all situations where you want get up and punish someone. ;)
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Scrollreader

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #11 on: 30 October 2015, 11:54:35 »
Does the D have Jump Jets? All you'd have to do is swap the AMS for AP Gauss, and any of the KungsArmé's Pilots who were driving a Warhammer (IS Model) are going to feel right at home.  Only, you know.  Significantly more powerful.   O0
« Last Edit: 30 October 2015, 12:04:35 by Scrollreader »

SteelRaven

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #12 on: 30 October 2015, 12:29:34 »
Omni Grizzly  O0 (any doubts, look at the A)
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mrbooth

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #13 on: 30 October 2015, 12:45:40 »
When I first saw this thing I went meh another scary looking clan heavy, but then when the bears got the Vulture Mk III, I built a star of 3 Karhu and a pair of Mk III prime.  Really nasty surprise when my opponent went to take out the MK III parked on a hill and found him self having to deal with 3 Karhu hidden on the other side.

marauder648

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #14 on: 30 October 2015, 12:46:28 »
Does the D have Jump Jets? All you'd have to do is swap the AMS for AP Gauss, and any of the KungsArmé's Pilots who were driving a Warhammer (IS Model) are going to feel right at home.  Only, you know.  Significantly more powerful.   O0

Every single one has jump jets :) the Prime has IJJ's the others have 5 standard ones giving them a 5/8/5 movement speed in most cases save the one with the Supercharger which goes 5/8(10)/5
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Re: Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #15 on: 30 October 2015, 12:50:39 »
I've got the TRO's but not the data sheets for the mech's and variants at home.

In the record sheet book, the TRO C is the prime, the TRO prime is completely absent, and we have a different configuration C equipped with 2 plasma rifles cannons, a streak SRM 6, 3 medium pulse, 4 B-pods, ECM, Active Probe, and five jump jets.
« Last Edit: 30 October 2015, 15:18:19 by Liam's Ghost »
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VhenRa

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #16 on: 30 October 2015, 13:13:40 »
Plasma Rifles or Plasma Cannons?

wantec

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #17 on: 30 October 2015, 13:27:40 »
Does the D have Jump Jets? All you'd have to do is swap the AMS for AP Gauss, and any of the KungsArmé's Pilots who were driving a Warhammer (IS Model) are going to feel right at home.  Only, you know.  Significantly more powerful.   O0
The D and Syngman variants do not have jump jets. The Prime has 7IJJ, the A, B, C, and G have 5JJ.
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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #18 on: 30 October 2015, 13:33:04 »
a thought on the skulls...
in Finnish traditions Bears are divine animals, and revered. when humans killed a bear (which happened sometimes due to encroachment near villages) or found one dead, it was tradition to hold a big feat in honor of the dead Bear (the Karhunpeijaiset), a funeral rite, and then attach the bear's head to a tall tree where it would eventually become just a skull, and an object of veneration.

Scandinavian traditions were not as elaborate, but still revered bears as a symbol of strength, and bear skulls and bear skins were not an uncommon sight with certain types of warriors.


i'd suggest that the Ghost Bears have been using these old nordic traditions as a way of introducing CGB's own reverence for the Ghost Bear into the minds of the FRR's people, and as an extension, subtly getting them to accept the clan. basically the old traditions get used indirectly as a propoganda tool. the stylized bear skulls on the mechs grow out of this.

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #19 on: 30 October 2015, 14:10:32 »
This is a very fun mech to play.  Its only real weakness is that it's short on crit space, which has prevented it from being able to mount much crit-intensive weaponry.
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marauder648

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #20 on: 30 October 2015, 15:15:27 »
This is a very fun mech to play.  Its only real weakness is that it's short on crit space, which has prevented it from being able to mount much crit-intensive weaponry.

Aye but the space it has got it uses pritty wisely :) I hope the write up and layout was alright too.
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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #21 on: 30 October 2015, 15:18:49 »
Plasma Rifles or Plasma Cannons?

Cannons. Apologies.
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Jellico

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #22 on: 30 October 2015, 18:58:18 »
The Prime exists to match the visual representation of the Mech. It also gets some surprisingly good combat reviews being something of a giant Viper B. Mark it as a potential BA transport in this age of functionally extinct Firemoths and Vipers. No chest guns unlike the Mad Dog.

The C variant is an attempt to get the variant from Trial by Chaos into a working chassis.

The Karhu is a GB medium alongside their other medium the Mad Dog. It replaces the Storm Crow, Hellbringer, and Summoner. Note that for most of the played game the Bears only electronic Mech was the Hellbringer making it somewhat essential at the Cluster level and surprisingly common per the RATs.

Wrangler

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #23 on: 30 October 2015, 19:00:16 »
Another thing i like about is the speed and option to have Retractable blade which is rarity nowadays.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #24 on: 30 October 2015, 20:01:28 »
Given the increased popularity of melee weapons among the Ghost Bears, I do wish that there'd been a variant with a hatchet or mace.
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Wrangler

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #25 on: 30 October 2015, 22:15:26 »
Given the increased popularity of melee weapons among the Ghost Bears, I do wish that there'd been a variant with a hatchet or mace.
Well, there no official stats, but FM: 3145 has option in FM: 3085's SPECIAL COMMAND ABILITIES for Tundra Galaxy. Third Drakøns can be modified to wield hatchets as long it's has hand actuator and little play with criticals using the TechManual.
"Men, fetch the Urbanmechs.  We have an interrogation to attend to." - jklantern
"How do you defeat a Dragau? Shoot the damn thing. Lots." - Jellico 
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"It's 200 LY to Sian, we got a full load of shells, a half a platoon of Grenadiers, it's exploding outside, and we're wearing flak jackets." VoTW Destrier - Misterpants
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #26 on: 30 October 2015, 22:36:57 »
Yeah, I was actually thinking of that when I made that post.
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Grey

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #27 on: 02 November 2015, 01:31:16 »
Now personally I never saw the Summoner connection myself, Hellbringer replacement, Omni-Grizzly, sure. Now the connection makes sense.

Though I've had little opportunity to use it I like the Karhu, it's versatile, powerful when used right, and looked to me like a sort of evolution for the Ghost Bears, either in their approach to combat or acceptance of Rasalhaugians.

Natasha Kerensky

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #28 on: 02 November 2015, 23:32:56 »

The Karhu is the kind of highly mobile, decently armored, reasonably hard-hitting design that best fits what the Clans claim to be -- societies built around a select few warriors who engage in individual duels to determine the future of those societies.  I sometimes think that when they appeared in 3050, the Clan toumans should have been dominated by Karhus, Vipers, Summoners, Executioners and their ilk and evolved towards Stormcrows, Mad Dogs, Timberwolves, Warhawks, and their kind in the face of Spheroid militaries, rather than the other way around.

It would be great to see a configuration or two with claws, instead of retractable blades that look like claws.  Aside from the better ursine aesthetics, at 65 tons, a couple claws would give the Karhu two chances on the punch hit location table with +1 modifiers to penetrate a cockpit with 9 points of armor, instead of one chance on the punch hit location table with a +4 modifier.  Maybe back up the claws with massed medium (pulse) lasers, like the Kodiak or Nova.

Since the Karhu is the rare omnimech with podded jump jets, it would also be great to see some configurations that drop the jump capability in favor of heavier weapons loadouts.
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MoneyLovinOgre4Hire

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Re: MOTW - Karhu - SKULL(shoulder pads)'S FOR THE DOMINION!
« Reply #29 on: 03 November 2015, 00:12:48 »
The D already does.
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"I think I've just had another near-Rincewind experience," Death, The Color of Magic

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