Spartan SPT-N*
Rhonda's Irregulars, pg 31 (Scenario Pack)
Technical Readout: 3058, pgs 136-7
Technical Readout: 3058 upgrades, pgs 220-1 Following up on the SLDF
Lancelot this slightly early Mech of the Week will focus on what is undeniably one of the rarest battlemechs of the entire universe, not to mention rarely used by players on tabletops worldwide. The
Spartan is entirely a product of the Star League, and a very tangible vision of the approach favored by the SLDF. "When push comes to shove" sums up nicely the development cycle of the
Spartan, as it is a reaction to the events of the time.
Rewind back to the halcyon days of the Star League, and its ignominious end. The Periphery tasked General Alexander Kerensky to no end, and had clearly demonstrated the limits of the SLDF's force projection. Matinson Armaments rose to the occasion, carrying the SPT project from the drawing board to manufacturing. However, in such uncertain times it is necessary to look at the big picture, and this is a picture of going with the familiar. Unrest in the Periphery left the SLDF with a need for something
NOW; everything about the
Spartan infers haste. Faced with a very immediate challenge Martinson Armaments responded with a somewhat cookie cutter approach, but as I hope to express in so many words this wasn't necessarily a bad thing. The
Spartan exemplifies the approach started by the Terran Hegemony with battlemechs such as the
Orion and
Thunderbolt, and is frequently described/derided as a 'Fast
Battlemaster`.
Nuts & Bolts Every political entity that has battlemech technology tends to develop a certain style; specific solutions for specific problems. A corollary of this is the appearance of the battlemech. The Draconis Combine is well known to be all about PPCs and swords, Davion loves its autocannons, and so on, the Terran Hegemony designers had come to favor what can best be described as a walking egg. No anthropomorphic or animalistic robots here, only form following function. At eighty tons the mech is on the low end of the assault category, sharing the weight class with such illustrious designs such as the
Victor,
Thug, and the
Awesome. Despite the weight, the mech has the soul of a high-end medium mech such as the
Wolverine or
Shadowhawk with its blend of speed and flexible weapon suite.
Canon says that The SLDF generals issued the challenge for the
Spartan as a response to the unrest in the Periphery. The design suggests a copy/paste approach to the design process, as well as availability. The chassis lacks many of the technological advances that had become common. Was this because of time constraints, or something else? In any case, the
Spartan would have been a good choice for a succession war-era downgrade due to its familiar design and off-the-shelf components.
Defensive The
Spartan, as previously mentioned, is in many ways a retread of a tried and true model.The design suggests haste. Martinson Armaments didn't break any new ground, nor took any risks in answering the SLDF's call for a new battlemech. The chassis is standard, with the only extravegance being the engine. A massive Dantrus 400 extralight engine pushes the
Spartan to 86 kph, nearly unheard of for an assault mech of the period. Today it is common, but in its day only the
Charger could match it.
Fourteen tons of armor protect The
Spartan, making it one of the tougher mechs of the period. The armor is evenly distributed, so that every location can take multiple hits from PPCs or large bore autocannons; even the rear locations can resist anything short of a PPC. On top of this the
Spartan mounts an AntiMissile system with two tons of ammunition. Despite a tendency to jam the AMS can often mean the difference between victory and destruction. The only drawback to the design is the lack of CASE in most models. Carrying four tons of unprotected ammunition all but guarantees a messy end; the high casualty rate of the Amaris Civil War attests to that.
Offensive The
Spartan boasts a payload that is very similar to the famous
Battlemaster: a single PPC backed by SRMs and medium lasers. In this case however, all of the weapons are enhanced. The PPC is the Kinslaughter model, that has extended range and special insulating cones. The lasers are pulse models, and the missiles are Streaks. Three medium Pulse Lasers and twin Streak-2 racks pack enough punch to knock a battlemech down, or rip open most vehicles. All in all, the
Spartan is geared toward short ranged engagements, but with the ability to shoot its way in. The mix of short range missiles, PPC, and pulse lasers is flexible and above all quite accurate. The icing on the cake is the Target Acquisition Gear mounted in the left torso. The
Spartan can spot for artillery, further increasing its value.
Thirteen double strength heatsinks keeps the heat under control. While not enough for nonstop Alpha Strikes, such an all out attack only causes problems if the Streaks fire. Even in the modern age many mechs cannot make this claim. An interesting detail is that the Streak launchers each have their own ton of ammunition. The experience of the Reunification War still burned bright in the minds of the SLDF, and the
Spartan is an example of this. Carrying a mix of primarily energy weapons and oversized ammunition bins the mech boasts enviable battlefield endurance. At least, as long as it takes no hits to those magazines.
Variants With the destruction of Martinson Armaments'manufacturing complex at the outset of the Amaris Coup the
Spartan never had the chance for many variants. Even so, a few have made their appearance. The standard model, the SPT-N2, was preceded by the SPT-N1 model. The -N1 differed only by way of standard heatsinks. Double strength heatsinks are a necessity for a mech based primarily on energy weapons, and so the -N1 never saw service.
Perhaps thinking along the same lines as most readers, the SPT-NF attempts to rectify the problem of vulnerable ammunition bins. Accounting for nearly a quarter of the total production, this variant removes the TAG in exchange for CASE in both torsos, which goes a long way in protecting the mechwarrior and preventing the total destruction of the mech. Everything in life is about tradeoffs, but this is a questionable tradeoff at best. The Target Acquisition Gear is one of the most valuable elements of the
Spartan. Losing it reduces the mech to just another low end assault. Far better would have been to reduce the magazine of the AMS or Streak launchers. Although the Dantrus extralight engine is destroyed in an ammunition explosion, even with CASE, the -NF variant can reasonably claim to be a slight improvement defensively.
Fast foward to the modern era and the SPT-N3. Both the ComGuards and the Word of Blake have modified a number of their
Spartans to better fit in with their combat doctrines. Swapping the pulse lasers for Extended Range Medium Lasers and removing the AntiMissile System it adds C3i gear and incorporates three additional double heatsinks. Again, tradeoffs. The expanded heat dissipation can keep up with the extra thermal output, and the extra range of the lasers can and will make a difference. The C3i link, like the TAG, is a force multiplier that should not be underestimated. This variant lacks CASE, which is worrying on a mech that by definition wants to put itself in harm's way as much as possible. All in all, the -N3 model a decent modification even though it doesn't address the
Spartan's weaknesses.
Deployent Entering the SLDF's To&E just in time for the Amaris Coup, the
Spartan began its carreer on the wrong foot; Martinson Armament's factory was destroyed by Rim Worlds Forces in the opening stages. About six hundred were manufactured, and of that total only a third survived the Civil War. Kerensky took fifty or so of them into exile, and ComStar saw nineteen survive Tukayyid. Outside of that, a handful have appeared in the hands of mercenary commands, most notably Rhonda's Irregulars.
The original specifications for the
Spartan were a response to the increasing unrest in the Periphery, and this is relected in the design. The mech is a generalist, equipped to deal with a wide range of opponents. The pulse lasers and Streaks are good for dealing with fast moving targets, and the PPC is all range threat. The
Spartan is a good choice for independent operations, since it can stay in the field longer than most mechs of the period. The TAG is invaluable for such missions: send the
Spartan out as a roving hunter-killer, such as anti-insurgency strikes. Find the enemy, tag him, and watch the artillery rain down. A good choice for this type of mission is to pair the
Spartan with the
Padilla (the original SLDF model) for a highly mobile force.
Gee, this far without a single
300 reference? Not cool. How do you use the
Spartan in practice? Like a Spartan
The short range of most of the armament makes the
Spartan a poor choice for cavalry operations- just the author's opinion, but cavalry units should not need to get right up in the enemy's face- but those same weapons make the mech well suited for slashing attacks. The speed and accuracy of the mech gives it a degree of control over the engagement, and the heavy armor allows it to survive such tactics ( or not, if the Amaris Uprising and Tukayyid are any indication ). Always pair the
Spartan with Arrow IV units, don't let that TAG go to waste. The SLDF could pair the
Spartan with other high-endurance, high mobility mechs such as the
Flashman and
Lancelot; this is probably the origin of the heavy cavalry tactics employed by several clans. The children of Kerensky took the SLDF's concept and ran with it, while the Inner Sphere reverted to a seige mentality during the succession wars.
While on the surface it may appear that fighting a
Spartan is similar to fighting a
Battlemaster, the
Spartan is the tougher opponent. Faster, and with more accurate weapons the mech could run down most mechs of its day and dictate the range and angle of the fight. Only in the modern age, post Operation Revival, do we see mechs able to meet the
Spartan on even terms. The mech is somewhat undergunned by modern standards, but for the period it was a very capable weapon array. Tactics for facing
Spartans hinge upon restricting its mobility and overwhelming firepower; once the armor is breached the mech quickly crumples. Be wary: both the SLDF and ComStar/Word of Blake are well versed in the use of Arrow IV artillery, so the
Spartan should be a priority target. Box it in, and hammer it until it breaks.
Final thoughts By today's standards the
Spartan doesn't impress many of the younger players, accustomed to
MadCats,
Executioners, and
Falconers. But when viewed with its contemporaries of the SLDF the
Spartan was an impressive machine. Even eschewing technologies that we now take for granted such as endo-steel and ferro-fibrous armor the assault mech delivers outstanding performance. It really was an early lesson in the impact of new technologies on battlemech design. And to be honest, it's just plain fun to use.
