I'm not the first person to attempt this build (perhaps most famously, mattPLOG
did one a few years ago), but it hasn't been done for a while, and I thought it would be fun. This one turns the
REX into an experimental, superheavy biped 'Mech. Still 300 tons short of its canon weight, and slow as a snail by comparison, but quite fearsome nonetheless. I've done my best to retain the flavor of the beast, including its nuclear armament. There were still some compromises, of course. See the notes below the TRO.
TRO (lightly edited):
Metal Gear MGS-REX
Mass: 200 tons
Chassis: Armstech REX0023b Endo-Composite
Power Plant: Armstech AGM 400 XL "Behemoth"
Cruising Speed: 21.6 kph
Maximum Speed: 32.4 kph
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: [ CLASSIFIED ] Ferro-Lamellor
Armament:
1 Searing LaserStorm ER Small Pulse Laser "Slice n' Dice"
1 ArmsTech International V17 Improved Heavy Large Laser "Vulcan Cannon"
1 Optimum Bombardment 422 Long Tom "Widowmaker"
2 Phalanga-F ATM 3 "Rain From Heaven"
1 Phalanga-F ATM 9 "Rain From Heaven"
2 30mm Heavy Machine Gun
Manufacturer: ArmsTech Land Systems
Primary Factory: North America, Terra
Communication System: [ CLASSIFIED ]
Targeting & Tracking System: [ CLASSIFIED ]
Introduction Year: 3150
Tech Rating/Availability: F/X-X-X-F
Cost: 88,030,600 C-bills
Type: Metal Gear
Technology Base: Mixed (Experimental)
Tonnage: 200
Battle Value: 3,798
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure Endo-Composite 30
Engine 400 XL 26.5
Walking MP: 2
Running MP: 3
Jumping MP: 0
Double Heat Sink 21 [42] 11
Superheavy Gyro 8
Superheavy Cockpit 4
Armor Factor (Ferro-Lamellor) 600 43
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head 4 12
Center Torso 60 90
Center Torso (rear) 30
R/L Torso 42 64
R/L Torso (rear) 20
R/L Arm 33 66
R/L Leg 42 84
Right Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm
Left Arm Actuators: Shoulder, Upper Arm
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Heat Tonnage
Talons RL/LL 2/2 - 14.0
ATM 3 LL 2 2 1.5
ATM 3 RL 2 2 1.5
ER Small Pulse Laser CT 1 3 1.5
ATM 9 CT 4 6 5.0
4 Double Heat Sink CT 8 - 4.0
CASE II RT 1 - 0.5
Davy Crocket-M Long Tom Ammo (1) RT 1 - 1.0
Heavy Machine Gun RT 1 0 0.5
Improved Heavy Large Laser RT 3 18 4.0
Long Tom RA/RT 20/10 20 30.0
Targeting Computer LA 1 - 2.0
Angel ECM Suite LA 2 - 2.0
Bloodhound Active Probe LA 3 - 2.0
CASE II LT 1 - 0.5
Copperhead Long Tom Ammo (5) LT 1 - 1.0
Standard ATM/9 Ammo (14) LT 2 - 2.0
High-Explosive ATM/9 Ammo (7) LT 1 - 1.0
Extended-Range ATM/9 Ammo (7) LT 1 - 1.0
Standard ATM/3 Ammo (40) LT 2 - 2.0
High-Explosive ATM/3 Ammo (20) LT 1 - 1.0
Extended-Range ATM/3 Ammo (20) LT 1 - 1.0
Heavy Machine Gun Ammo (200) LT 2 - 2.0
Heavy Machine Gun LT 1 0 0.5
Double Heat Sink HD 2 - 1.0
Direct Neural Interface Cockpit Modification None 0 - 0.0
Features the following design quirks: Cowl, Narrow/Low Profile, Overhead Arms, Protected Actuators, Distracting, Hard to Pilot, No/Minimal Arms, No Ejection System, No Torso Twist, PrototypeNotes:- The 'Mech was constructed in MegaMek Lab.
- The "strong" recommendation of the Battlemech Manual (p. 82) is to balance positive and negative quirk points, and they are: 10 positive, 10 negative. The quirks were written in at the end of the TRO as there's currently no easy way to add them in MML.
- One of the edits I made to the TRO above was to list all the Talons and Long Tom locations (for whatever reason, MML just listed one: LL for the Talons, RA for the Long Tom) and how the critical space is split.
- To make it go any faster would require a 600 rated engine, which is not currently possible.
- Its heat sinks won't tolerate an alpha strike but they are otherwise sufficient.
- Its relatively limited armament allowed for the maximum armor factor possible. Ferro-Lamellor will help it live up to its "near-impenetrable" reputation.
- Canonically, the REX only carries a single nuke for the railgun's use, but I put in 1 ton of Copperhead rounds to give it some versatility. They can be exchanged for any other kind of Long Tom round for the same BV (Tactical Operations: AU&E, p. 195), including, if you want, another nuke. The nuke occupies its own critical space in the RT, while the Copperhead rounds are in the other side to prevent the gun from becoming completely useless in the event the LT goes boom.
- What to do about the radome? My solution was to put all of its fancy gear in there: an active probe, ECM, and its targeting computer. Take that out and the 'Mech is... slightly weaker. I originally used communications equipment, but it didn't quite fit the flavor.
- It has a Direct Neural Interface because, unlike most 'Mechs, the pilot is totally enclosed and blind without its sensors. You can pilot it without the DNI but you suffer the Hard to Pilot quirk. The DNI negates the Hard to Pilot quirk (see Interstellar Operations, p. 68) with a suitable pilot. I didn't give it the Cramped Cockpit quirk because that implies design flaws it doesn't have.
As a side note, the Armored Cowl is the item that pushes its Availability rating into X-X-X-X territory. Without it, it would be X-X-X-F. It's tempting to remove it and use the quirk instead.- I borrowed from the semi-canonical MGS handbook armament listing for most of the weapon fluff. In MGS, Otacon only lists "a Vulcan cannon, a laser and a rail gun" as its main armament, which can be interpreted to correspond to its Handbook armament listing (the laser refers to the "Slice n' Dice", the Vulcan to its high powered laser). In either case, there's something missing: its missiles. Plus, it should be cannons, plural (unless that was a mistake). The REX's armament was retconned in MGS 4, creating further inconsistencies. There's a talk page about it for the curious.
- Concerning weapons, the Long Tom was the obvious choice for the railgun as it has nuclear munitions and a huge range. For the lasers, it only made sense to cram in the most powerful single laser available, hence the IH Large Laser, but the ER Small Pulse was for two reasons: one, weight (1.5 tons was perfect), and two, the HMGs have a very short range, so I thought it needed something with a bit more reach. The ER Small Pulse still has a bonus against infantry too. That with the HMGs gives it a potent anti-infantry capability at close range, which is important for fending off swarm attacks. There's a strong argument for Rotary AC/2s via the MGS 4 rectons but, for me, the costs outweigh the benefits given its few dedicated anti-infantry weapons; that, and the extra weight and bulk have to be found by cuts elsewhere (like the armor, active probe, and its Talons). The BV came out higher with RAC/2s (+137), but, in the end, I opted not to use them. For the missiles, see below.
- The legs posed some difficulties. On more detailed models, smoke grenade launchers can be seen, and there are actually three missile launchers per pod (3x3 per leg) rather than just three launchers total. With an ECM system the smoke becomes redundant, but there's still not enough critical space to mount Talons and an ATM 9 per leg. Rather than lose the Talons I chose to downgrade the ATMs. The ATM 9 in the CT stands in for the 8-tube launcher on the 'top' of the 'Mech. The grenade launchers could have also been an excuse to mount A-pods or B-pods, but unfortunately, there's simply no room. Obviously, ATMs are the best bang for buck with their integral Artemis IV and 3 missile types. As a bonus, the Standard missile range brackets match the IH Large Laser.
- Update: I decided to remove the Armored Cowl in exchange for its equivalent quirk, for the simple reason I checked the fluff toggle in MML and it had no reference, nor could I find it on Sarna. It isn't listed in the TechManual, Tactical Operations or Interstellar Operations either, deepening the mystery. It might be from an older rulebook, but I just don't know. With the extra ton, I added another DHS to the HD. I also removed the Improved Targeting: Long quirk in order to replace it with the Cowl, and that ends up balancing the quirk points. The above has been edited and, probably, could be seen as 'final'.
- A record sheet has been attached below: please note the ATM HE & ER Ammo share a critical space for either launcher so they're not listed on the crit table separately. The sheet was generated by MML. The MML .mtf has also been provided.
That completes the notes, and with them, the build. I hope I've done it justice.
