WHT-** Whitworth
The
Whitworth, aka Worthless, aka Tin Woodsman, aka "Oh, no, the Colonel found out about his daughter" is a much-disparaged design, and unfairly so in this author's opinion. Though its original design specs offered it as an intermediate scout 'Mech between the
Phoenix Hawk and its lighter brethren the
Stinger and
Wasp, it never filled that gap, instead becoming a stolid and reliable light fire design.
First produced in 2610, the
Whitworth's creation was almost certainly influenced by the Reunification War. The long years of peace allowed it to proliferate, though its only factory on Dieron was destroyed during the Amaris Crisis - presaging the fire that would consume so many facilities. Still, unlike other designs it managed to survive the Succession Wars, being most common in the Draconis Combine and Federated Suns. In fact, two famous pilots were former DCMS lancemates and best friends until one defected to the FedSuns. It lead to a situation where propaganda experts on both sides exaggerated their exploits against each other in newsfeeds to incite hatred against the other nation, even arranging for them to be assigned to regiments which frequently clashed. Post Fourth Succession War, their fame faded - discarded by the system that had created them.
In the modern battlefield,
Whitworths are an uncommon but not unexpected sight, but will probably fade sometime between the post-Jihad and the Dark Age eras. I couldn't find it in any MWDA list, though admittedly I am inexpert in perusing the RATs.
Whitworths were originally equipped with three medium lasers, two SRM-6 launchers, and fourteen heatsinks (enough to alpha strike with nominal heat buildup), with one ton of ammunition for each launcher. This model was designated the -1S. SLDF planners convinced the Whitworth Company to change the primary armament from SRM-6s to LRM-10s (dropping four heatsinks to do so, and redesignating it the WHT-1) after combat reports showed that it wasn't an effective design in close combat.
Presumably, this had nothing to do with the armament and everything to do with two factors: the lack of hand actuators, and the embarrassingly bad design of the legs. Their overly slim build exposed the actuators too easily and caused them to tear apart during strenuous maneuvers. Some mechanics in the Succession Wars actually replaced the legs with those of other 'Mechs, creating bizarre but effective FrankenMechs.
Its armor is a solid 8 tons, spread well enough across the frame to have extra armor left on all frontal locations even after a PPC hit, though no area will be able to stop an AC/20 barrage - but the legs will come close, despite their physical thinness. Its rear torso will likewise sneer at everything up to a medium pulse laser, as befits a 'Mech first armed to be an infighter.
The factor which colors everyone's opinion of the
Whitworth is not its armament or its armor, but its speed. At a paltry 64 kph, its top speed hardly comes close to the PXH, WSP, or STG units it was supposed to supplement, though at least it can jump 120 meters in a single leap. This creation of slow low-end mediums was not unusual for the Star League; both the
Panther and the
Wyvern share its movement profile, which may explain its longevity beyond another porkbarrel SLDF project. Other jumping designs common in the SLDF, such as the
Guillotine,
Victor, and
Blackjack, make finding lancemates for the
Whitworth easy.
Like so many other refits of older designs first catalogued in TRO 3050, the WHT-2 seemed to be influenced more by shiny toy syndrome than good sense - in this case, the Artemis IV FCS. Replacing two of the WHT-1's medium lasers with Artemis systems is hardly the WORST offense to come out of TRO 3050, but that only says how bad some of the refits showcased therein truly are. Reducing its short-range firepower by 66% to increase its long-range damage by 33% could be described as inefficient, if one were feeling kind, and stronger language was no doubt used by pilots suddenly forced into using the 'upgrade'. One of the high points of the
Whitworth is its flat damage curve; taking that away just seems... dumb.
A simple Periphery upgrade (WHT-1H) takes the original, SRM-6 equipped model and replaces one SRM and its ammo with eight RL-10s. Though in fairness this gives the 'Mech a devastating alpha strike, if it actually USES that alpha strike it overheats by a very significant amount, risking shutdown and ammo explosion problems. Despite that, it is a popular design in the Periphery, though I personally wouldn't touch it with a dead womprat.
The WHT-2A takes the original
Whitworth to the extreme. It carries four Streak-4 racks, CASE to protect against ammo explosions, and a C3 slave unit. To save the weight, it has an Endo Steel frame, ten double instead of fourteen single heatsinks, and downgrades one of the medium lasers to a small. Though still slow, it carries a dangerous punch, and at least it has CASE.
Popular among the Capellan March forces is an interesting variation on the LRM-equipped
Whitworth, marked WHT-3. By using an Endo Steel frame and dropping the medium lasers entirely, it saves enough weight to upgrade to six Improved Jump Jets and add a C3 slave. It trades the two LRM-10 racks for four LRM-5s, using the weight saved to up its ammo to four tons total. Overall, the tradeoff isn't worth it to my eyes, especially when examining what the Dragon came up with...
By using dual MML-7s instead of either SRMs or LRMs, the DCMS neatly combined the entire history of the
Whitworth, simply adding -K to its designation. Aided by a pair of ERMLs, it can fight well at any range, and carries the now-common C3 Slave and five Improved Jump Jets with the weight saved by Endo Steel. It's not all gravy, however; the lack of CASE is painful, and the fact that it only has ten single heatsinks (!!) gives it potentially crippling heat problems on the post-Jihad battlefield.
An experimental variant, the -5S, tries to cram as much tech in there as possible. Composite internal structure and a supercharged XL Engine (still the 160-rated engine common to the
Whitworth, however) are the basis for a design that carries two Streak-6 racks and two Medium X-pulse lasers, with CASE II to guard the ammo. Actuator Enhancement Systems give the MXPLs even more accuracy, and a Guardian ECM adds to its in-fighting ability.
Lastly, the WHT-0 used by the Amaris Dragoons as a terror weapon was very simple: drop one of the medium lasers for a flamer and load the SRM-6 racks with Infernos. Infamous for burning down entire towns, only two dozen were ever used, and all were presumably destroyed by Kerensky's forces.
Using a
Whitworth depends on whether you have a short-range or long-range version; and for the BV they are solid units to add to a force.
The short-range version excels at close-quarters fighting (fluff text to the contrary notwithstanding), particularly city streets. Its slow speed does mean that in an open battlefield, it will take a pounding that it is not well-equipped to handle, but used sensibly it can swing a close-in fight to your advantage.
The long-range version, on the other hand, is an excellent light-fire 'Mech that (aside from the WHT-2 and -3) carries enough short-range firepower to defend itself once its ammo bins run dry.
Countering one is not hard (simply find the range that it is not comfortable fighting at, and pound it into submission), but as evinced by the addition of C3 Slaves to three of the late-model
Whitworths, it is a team player first and foremost. Watch out for the team when fighting a WHT.
So, what do you think, sirs?
