Subatai - 75t, TRO3055
Originally posted 29 Dec. 2004. All proposed fan-variants should be posted in the corresponding "FotW Workshop" thread. I really, really want to love the
Sabutai, folks. I do. The name makes it sound
badass, and the looks match; it has the same engine as the
Visigoth and
Kirghiz (making them the only three OmniFighters to share that engine that way - a major logistical SNAFU to my way of thinking); it carries a crapload of very, very big guns; and it's a product of everybody's favourite 'villains' the Smoke Jaguar, who were never shy about kicking somebody's ass if they felt like it. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same flaws as many other Smoke Jag designs that could otherwise have been instant classics, mainly because of that very same Smoke Jaguar mentality of 'scream and leap'.
Even the basic spaceframe is a disappointment. A 6/9 thrust curve gives the
Sabutai the edge over most heavier designs; unfortunately, the small fuel capacity, only three tons, makes sustained combat all but impossible on internal reserves alone, and the
Sabutai can ill-afford to lose its mobility by carrying external tanks. The 300XL engine that makes that thrust curve possible seems to come with fifteen DHS as standard (which actually makes a certain degree of logistical sense), making the
Sabutai's organic dissipation capacity quite healthy, but the armour... are the Smoke Jaguar constitutionally incapable of properly armouring their designs? Twelve tons of ferro-aluminium makes for a great degree of free pod-space, yes, but it also leaves the
Sabutai horribly vulnerable - even if your nose is (just) proof against the standard C/ERML, when your wings are subject to one-shot TACs by a dinky little SRM-4 and your tail to a measly Spheroid medium laser, you're doing something very seriously wrong. About the only bright spot on the spaceframe is the overwhelming amount of pod-space:
forty-four-point-five tons of room for all those beautiful guns. Given how that amount of room was saved, though, I'm not sure it's such a bargain. :-\
The
Sabutai Prime is probably the best 'utility' loadout. A nose-mounted Gauss rifle is a good place to start - I'm not too crazy about having only one ton of ammo for it, but given this thing's armour profile and perennial fuel shortages, loitering too long probably wouldn't be the best way to extend your lifespan anyway. Each wing supports an ERPPC and an LPL, making for much energy-based pain, and the warload is rounded out by a trio of token ERSLs, one in the nose and two aft, in case someone tries their luck in a knife-fight. Careful bracket fire is needed with this load-out - even with an additional six DHS, using both the PPCs and the LPLs at once does Really Bad Things to your heat-scale - but it can dish it out at all ranges. If you have to use a
Sabutai for air-to-air combat, this is probably your best bet.
Obviously the spiritual descendant of the
Xerxes I covered as my inaugural article, the
Sabutai-A has 'Dropper Chopper'/'Ground Attack' written all over it. Armament consists of an LB-20X in the nose with three tons of ammo, UAC/20s in each wing with a ton of ammo each (WTF?), a trio of ERSLs for self-defence when (not if) you go Winchester, and a pair of ERMLs aft for the riff-raff. In air-strikes, those autocannons are enough to pulverise even the heaviest of assault 'Mechs - stagger 'em and open 'em up with the Ultras, then watch the LB's proximity-fused shells (that's Cluster ammo, for any non-fluff-thinkers) do lots and lots of crit-seeking. A bombing pass with the maximum fifteen tons of external ordnance (albeit at 3/5) wouldn't do much for the other guy's enjoyment of life, either. However, it lacks enough dissipation capacity to use all three cannons constantly, so watching your heat-scale is a must. (Interestingly, by the time sustained three-gun fire gets you into truly dangerous areas of the heat-scale, you'll have already completely depleted your UAC/20 magazines and won't be able to overheat again. Running yourself out of bullets as a way to restore combat effectiveness - does anyone else think this is a little self-defeating? :D)
All I can say about the
Sabutai-B is "holy multiple independent warheads, Batman!"
Five LRM-20s, one in the nose and two in each wing, with a Narc launcher for that lovely, lovely +2 Missile Hits bonus (though only in the air-strike role, dammit!), backed by a nose-mounted LPL and an ERSL for when your ammo runs out and an aft-mounted MPL to discourage the lightweights? [shudder] Yeeeeee! Given the rarity of AMS in canon designs, this one has the potential to be a giant-slayer. Sadly, like the -A it's let down by some really daft ammunitioning choices (twelve Narc rounds, but only six salvos per LRM launcher? When does a 6/9 ASF get a chance to deploy more than six Narc pods per sortie? ???) There's also a TAG module in the nose, presumably for guiding LGBs, Arrow-IVs or semi-guided LRMs, and an ECM in the tail for spoofing Artemis-IV systems. Manifestly a fire-support configuration, the
Sabutai-B can make life truly miserable for other fighters before the merge; it also makes a nasty complement to other fighters in the anti-shipping role, standing back and pelting the target with clouds of missiles while the other guys get into knife-fighting range. Alpha-striking isn't a good idea, but you can run all five LRM racks constantly for as long as your ammo lasts, then use the large pulser for self-defence on your way home for more missiles - if they're needed. It's also worth noting that this is one of the few canon OmniFighter configs with an electronic-warfare suite, and the value of its ECCM in reducing the EW protection of hostile Large Craft should not be ignored.
In the
Sabutai-C we have the requisite flashbulb config - which is not quite as horrible as it might have been. Twenty-two(!!!) additional double heat-sinks give a staggering amount of dissipation capacity... and this thing needs every bit of it and more, since the nose mounts quad ERLLs and an ERSL, and triple ERMLs are set into each wing. Ignoring that near-useless ERSL, a full alpha-strike puts you at +4 heat but puts a staggering amount of throw-weight down-range - given that
each Sabutai-C has a nose bay worth 4 Capital damage, and 2 Capital per wing-bay, this load-out makes a Star of
Sabutais a truly fearful anti-shipping weapon, and being strafed by even a single
Sabutai-C is enough to bring a tear to the eye of the heaviest assault 'Mech. You have to be careful of your heat, though, and since you lack stern weapons, you need escorts and/or good teamwork to avoid getting plinked to death.
Finally,
Sabutai-Delta is the 'new' configuration of '55U, mounting more recent technology than its fellows. Specifically, it's a variation on the
Charlie that packs FOUR(! :o) Heavy Large Lasers (and a single ERSL for the 'and Zoidberg' factor ::)) into its nose, backing that up with twin ERMLs in each wing and twenty-four additional DHS. Unmistakably an anti-Shipping loadout (for what the heck
else would need this sort of firepower?), the
Sabutai-D has enough dissipation capacity to fire all of those nose-guns (though nothing else), meaning that a full Star of them can smack a 'Ship with a nose-bay of
64 Capital damage every turn. :o Folks, even with the TW limitations on the critting ability of ASF flights, there are
battleships that are scared of this kind of treatment!
Muuummmmmmy, make the bad man stop! :o Unlike the
Visigoth, which held clear margins of superiority over its IS counterparts during Operation REVIVAL, the
Sabutai would actually have found itself outclassed in several ways. The
Shilones and
Slayers it would have met in the FRR and Draconis Combine could match its speed and agility, ran much cooler, and had larger fuel reserves, meaning that any
Subatai that tried to go home for more gas was going to get an alpha-strike or five up its tailpipe before it could get clear - not to mention the
Slayer's having thicker armour(!). The shock and awe set up by the power and reach of Clan weaponry would have been daunting at first, but the IS pilots would have learned quickly how to offset those advantages.
Sabutais give you near-obscene firepower, but they have to deliver it quickly, so pick your target, concentrate your firepower to take it out fast, then go home for more gas and bullets. Escorts to keep the interceptors off you
en route to target are a must, and once you've done your job,
go home. Never, ever let your formation be split, either - isolated
Sabutai Points are easy meat for enemy interceptors or dogfighters; enemy aerofighters should be left to the escorting interceptors and
Visigoths if at all possible, but if not, fire-support tactics and target-of-opportunity attacks are the best bet in aerial combat.
On the defensive side of the coin,
Sabutais are bullies: they love dishing out punishment, but they're not so keen on taking it, and they really, really hate getting into fair and/or long fights. They have short legs, so use their poor endurance against them: tie them up with multiple opponents and try to run their tanks dry, then give 'em the good news as they try to go home for more gas. ALWAYS respect their firepower, but swarm 'em under and try to get in behind 'em. Once the furball begins, light fighters like the
Sholagar getting in behind
Sabutais can cause significant grief before they're smacked - remember those soft wings and really weak tail armour? - and anything more formidable is going to be a
real (and literal) pain in the ass.
[VARIANT PROPOSAL(S) REDACTED] All proposed fan-variants, including my own, belong in the corresponding "FotW Workshop" thread: http://bg.battletech.com/forums/index.php?topic=1294.0 . Be advised: the attached .txt transcripts of previous runs of this thread contain numerous reader-proposals for variants. I'll try to change those out for 'sanitised' versions of those threads when I can, but I can't promise it'll be soon - that's a lot of ground to cover. ;)