So, I wondered, where DID those AC/20s go that all those Swayback drivers used to have? Surely they can't all have been destroyed, and there just aren't enough Atlases, Victors, and Cyclopses to account for them. So where are the bloody things going? It's questions like these that made me wonder, until I had to answer that question myself. Then again coming across a beat-to-Blake T-bolt didn't hurt the question, since it had been in combat with a real HBK-4G and its autocannon. Seemed the Hunchie had gotten the worse end of the deal, but not by far; still there was enough salvageable I thought...
...and maybe it was the Timbiqui Dark, but boy howdy "Thunderback" was a cool name.
Of course, my tech didn't think so. But I don't pay her to gripe, or else I'd have to triple her salary. Still, she did good work. And while I miss the extra machine gun or the extra laser on the left side, there's something deliciously comforting about the shade from that big Tomodzuru over the old missile system that y'know, I just don't miss it. Besides, there's something silly about a reverse-swayback, and it's paid off a few times. Oh well, their loss.
Thunderback THB-1
Mass: 65 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Introductory
Era: Age of War/Star League
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/D-E-D
Production Year: 2491
Cost: 5,352,710 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,267
Chassis: Earthwerks TDR Standard
Power Plant: Magna 260 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Ryerson 150 Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Autocannon/20
1 Sunglow Type 2 Large Laser
2 Medium Lasers
1 Voelkers 200 Machine Gun
Manufacturer: Earthwerks Incorporated
Primary Factory: Keystone
Communications System: Neil 8000
Targeting and Tracking System: RCA Instatrac Mark X
Overview:
First produced in 2491, the TDR-5S Thunderbolt—
or T-Bolt as it is aff ectionately known—is a familiar sight
throughout the Successor States. One of the fi rst ’Mechs
designed for planetary assaults, it is renowned for its heavy
fi repower. Though later superseded by larger and more
advanced designs, the Thunderbolt’s excellent design and
fearsome reputation has kept it in production.
Capabilities:
One of the best-armed ’Mechs in existence, the Thunderbolt’s
long-range punch come from a Sunglow Type 2
large laser and a drum-mounted Delta Dart LRM 15 launcher,
while three Diverse Optics Type 18 medium lasers provide
a formidable broadside at closer ranges. A Bical SRM
twin-rack and a pair of anti-infantry Voelkers 200 machine
guns round out the weaponry.
The Thunderbolt’s thirteen tons of Ryerson 150 armor
is another impressive feature, often outclassing ’Mechs
nearly twenty-fi ve tons heavier.
The ’Mech’s heavy weaponry is also its Achilles heel, as
MechWarriors must ride the heat curve carefully or else risk
shutdown and ammunition explosions. Many commanders
order their Thunderbolts into bodies of water on the battlefi
eld, allowing them to better utilize their armaments.
Deployment:
Used extensively by every military across the Inner
Sphere and Periphery, Thunderbolts appear in heavy lances
and even light assault forces. Houses Steiner and Marik are
the ’Mechs primary users, though these mercantile nations
have sold production runs to other states. House Liao used
to fi eld signifi cant numbers of the ’Mech, though the destruction
of the Fourth Succession War and Andurien War
severely curtailed this number. In the Periphery, the Taurian
Concordat—with two Thunderbolt factories—uses the
’Mech as the backbone of its military.
Variants:
Surprisingly for such an ancient design, only two major
variants of the Thunderbolt exist. The Steiner TDR-5SS
replaces the Sunglow large laser with a Kreuss PPC, substitutes
the LRM rack for an SRM-6, and exchanges the Bical
SRM pack for two Zippo fl amers. The Eridani Light Horse
mercenaries have adapted their Thunderbolts to act as
raiding and reconnaissance units. The TDR-5SE adds Chilton
420 jump jets and an LRM-10 rack at the expense of the
LRM-15, the SRM twin-rack, and machine guns.
Notable 'Mechs & MechWarriors:
Captain “Dashing John” MacAllister: Commander of Eridani
Light Horse’s Forty-fi rst Support Company, the Ass Extractors,
“Dashing John” models himself after the cavalry offi
cers of ancient Terran history. During the War of 3039, the
Seventy-fi rst Light Horse was abandoned on Fellanin II due
to a bureaucratic mistake. With the White Horse regiment
pinned down in Fort Jinjiro by the Second Arkab Legion
and the remnants of the Fourth Proserpina Hussars, Colonel
Alfi eri ordered his battered unit to retreat off -world.
Harried all the way back to their LZ, MacAllister fought a
desperate rearguard action, setting up numerous ambushes
and luring the Kuritans into his artillery’s kill zones. The
Ass Extractors accounted for over two companies of Kuritan
’Mechs, allowing the majority of the Eighty-second Cavalry
Battalion to safely reach the DropShips. Though blown out
of his Thunderbolt, the “Toujours L’Audace,” MacAllister was
later repatriated in early 3040.
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 104 points 6.50
Engine: Fusion Engine 260 13.50
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 13 3.00
Heat Sink Locations: 1 LL, 2 RL
Gyro: Standard 3.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA+H R: SH+UA+LA+H
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 184 11.50
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 21 30
Center Torso (rear) 7
L/R Torso 15 22
L/R Torso (rear) 6
L/R Arm 10 20
L/R Leg 15 21
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Large Laser RA 8 2 5.00
Machine Gun LA 0 1 0.50
@MG (200) LA - 1 1.00
Autocannon/20 RT 7 10 14.00
@AC/20 (10) RT - 2 2.00
2 Medium Lasers LT 6 2 2.00
Free Critical Slots: 26
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 6 Points: 13
4 3 3 0 0 3 0 Structure: 5
Special Abilities: SRCH, ES, SOA
