Horses armor paradigm

[Colt Ward]

We frequently talk about the Clans having mech/weapon paradigms.  The Falcons with their JJ as the prime users of fixed JJ on their own Omnis.  The Jags did Dire Wolves, Warhawks, Mad Dogs, Stormcrows, and Lynx/Cheetahs with heavy ballistics loads for assault.  The Cats are big into ER Lasers, the Scorpions are for pinpoint shooting, Spirits do ERLL, LRM15 & SRMs w/ SFE, Hellions are speedsters, etc.

But what do the Horses do when designing a vehicle?  Athena, Hephasteus, Epona, Enyo & Enyo II, Aithon, Bellona and others originated from the Horses with them being the primary users.

[AlphaMirage]

I think a lot of horse armor is for infantry support, transport or fire support.  I always saw the Horses deploying faster tanks to flank while heavy slow tanks with too many guns and not enough armor are behind a few mechs.  Elementals or infantry push into the middle and take advantage of the now limited mobility.

[Maelwys]

Armor itself is the paradigm for the Horses, not necessarily how they design.

[Kojak]

I think maybe the broadest generalization you could make about Horse armor design is that they really like pulse lasers.

[Natasha Kerensky]

But what do the Horses do when designing a vehicle?  Athena, Hephasteus, Epona, Enyo & Enyo II, Aithon, Bellona and others originated from the Horses with them being the primary users.

I don’t think there’s a common design thread that can be pulled through those disparate combat vehicles.

That said, Horse combat vehicles do seem more effective and saner than most Clan/Golden Age combat vehicles.  Generally better armor and mobility and more focused and efficient weapons loadouts, especially as time goes on.  The Horses are willing to invest thought and resources into vehicles that other Clans are not.  (It’s probably not a good investment vice the inherent advantages of mechs, but still...)

[Jellico]

Though I would argue that half of that is the Horses being a favourite to assign post TRO3060 armour to.

[Colt Ward]

I think both Jellico & Natasha have solid points- the other Clan commonly assigned sane vehicles would be the Nova Cats, though no indication of them being interested in vehicles before becoming Star League.  Shoden, SM1/2/3, and Joust series were all pretty solid designs that competed with the Horses' being the premier vehicle designers.  I was really wishing the Joust would be built by a different faction before we got details.

To revise what I asked, I think you have to break it down somewhat . . .

Assault/Fire Support armor
Athena, Mars & Mars (XL), Kokou & Kokou (XL)

Cavalry/Strike armor
Epona, Enyo & Enyo II, Bellona, Zephyros, Hephastus Jump

ISV/IFV armor
Aithon, Hephaestus

APC vehicles
Anat, Turhan II?

In general . . . yeah, pulse lasers seem to be a big part which helps offset the typically lower skill of Clan vehicle crews.  I would say that perhaps the Fire Support has a secondary choice of Gauss Rifles.  For the Cav, it might be Streak SRMs- again helps with their ammo efficiency.