MOTW: INF-NO InfernoThis week we're going to give Hellbie a breather from visiting some old classics while I take a poke at discussing one of the new shines from the Rec-guides. The INF-NO Inferno from Rec-guide 9. Fun fact, Rec-guide 9 came out on December 4th 2020, meaning this mech just celebrated it's 4th birthday. Let's all give it a hand!
“The Draconis Combine will not take another inch of Davion Soil so long as the Inferno still rages” -Starcorps Crofton sales line.
“WHY WON'T YOU JUST DIE!?” -Chu-i Kenji Robinson 5th Sword of light, New Avalon Sept 17 3151
3146 was a dark time for the Federated Suns, New Avalon and many worlds had fallen, to he hostile foreign powers that bordered the Suns, New Avalon and Robinson had fallen to the Combine, New Sytris was in Capellan hands, the fear that the FedSuns was facing it's doom was strong. There was a sense that the FedSuns needed to pull up their sleeves and hold the line until the First Prince could pull a miracle out of his hat to save the Federated Suns.
While waiting for this miracle to arrive Starcorps of Crofton decided to do their part to ensure the line would indeed hold. Taking a Chassis they'd been using to test some survability concepts, they created the Inferno Omnimech, the toughest, most Zombie-esque Inner Sphere omnimech since the last Archangel was melted down by Devlin Stone to give out Jihad participation medals to the survivors.
Mated to a standard endo steel skeleton, whose crits where thoughtfully placed in the limbs and utilizing a compact Gyro, and a standard engine capable of propelling it at a stately 64 Kilometres per hour (a 4/6 movement speed) the Inferno combines classic Zombie survivability with 29 tons of pod space (and 12 fixed DHS). In addition the Inferno has the Battle-fists, EM interference (centre torso) and and easy to pilot quirks. The Inferno leans into the first two quirks by ensuring each config has hand actuators, and avoiding the kind of expensive electronics that would be interfered with by firing it's main CT weapons. Which leads to the next question, how does the Inferno's configs make use of the Chassis... keep reading to find out!
And, or those curious an empty Inferno Chassis comes in at 9,284,844 C-bills
Prime:The Inferno Prime is a solid all around design the Utilizes a Centre torso mounted Heavy PPC, Twin Re-Engineered Medium Lasers and paired Multi-Missile Launcher 5s, with 2 tons ammo each, and sufficient heat sinks to fire everything without any heat build up. The weapons are all in the Torso, and the ammunition is protected with CASE II. This enabled the Inferno to go to town with it's battle-fists at close range should the pilot so choose while losing none of it's firepower. Although given the minimum range of the HPPC the Inferno pilot most likely will want to settle into the 3 hex sweet spot and fire off alpha strike after alpha strike. The Inferno Prime is a bludgeon, there's no finesse or art to using it. Point at enemy, advance firing the HPPC and MMLs at long range, swap the MMLs to SRMs when appropriate and just keep your finger on the trigger, until you die or he does. The Inferno Prime comes in at 11,145,438 C-bills and 1597 Battle-value.
AlphaNext up is the Inferno A, this variant mounts a pair of Medium X Pulse Lasers, one in each torso, a Gauss rifle with 2 tons of ammunition, and a centre torso mounted ER PPC, clearly intended for direct fire support, the Inferno A might be one of my favourite variants, but I'm a sucker for a Gauss rifle. The MXPLs make the mech run a little hot, but it runs perfectly heat neutral if you drop one so just fire the one and think of the other as a back up? Over all I kinda like this mech, 1 15 point and 1 10 point hit out at long range is solid firepower, it's not exceptional but many a popular mech has a weapons load like this, (the Falconer for example) Whereas the Inferno Prime wants to be at relatively short range, I feel the Inferno Alpha wants to be a little further off, ideally at a distance of 6 hexes short range for the primary weapons and medium range for the MXPLs. The cost, for those keeping track, is 11,544,063 C-bills, or 1846 Battle Value.
BetaNext up is the Inferno B. So, this design isn't much different from the Alpha, Mounting a CT mounted ER PPC, like the Alpha, the Beta carries twin LRM 15 racks, 1 in each torso and a Pair of ER Small lasers, one in each torso. Like the Alpha is is clearly a long range support mech, and we're beginning to see a bit of a pattern with the Inferno of “centre torso mounted PPC with supporting weapons, usually missiles in the side torsos, and always a laser in each side torso” I do wish we got a little more variety, a jumping pulse boat or something just to mix things up, but I digress. The Beta trade the head-capping ability of the other variants, to rain down heavy long range fire. With the heat sinks to use it's weaponry (well OK, if it fires the ER smalls it'll heat up, but if you're firing them AND the LRMs you have something more worrying then heat going on) over all this is a decent design, if not exceptional design. Davion doesn't have a TON of dedicated LRM fire support designs, so the Inferno Beta fills that niche nicely. And the long range support role makes the Inferno a little less vulnerable to the fast flankers that the Prime is so vulnerable to. It has a C-bill cost of 11,648, 125 C-bills and a BV cost of 1619 C-bills. I feel that over all there's going to be a healthy debate on the virtues of the Inferno A vs the B.
CharlieAnd now we're at the Inferno C. The Inferno C, to it's credit, actually does attempt to do something a little different from the usual. “Stick a PPC in the middle, and missiles in the sides” formula that we're so familer with the Inferno, mounting 3 Extended range Medium Lasers, one in each torso location, Paired Multi-Missile Launcher 5s, one in each side torso. And rounding it out it uses a thunderbolt 15 for the “Centre Torso big gun” Obviously your views on this is going to depend on your views on Thunderbolt missiles (and how common AMS is on your table) the Thunderbolt combined with the MML launchers gives the Inferno C some interesting tactical options, such as indirect fire. The Inferno does however suffer from the big CT mounted weapon being ammo based, so if it loses both side torso's it's basically down to a ER Medium Laser. The design costs 11,944 188 C-bills and 1698 BV. I kinda suspect this design is going to be a little less common then the others, but if anyone's found some fun tricks with it I'd really Like to Hear
RomeoAs the Inferno began to proliferate among the AFFS, it was found to be an exceptionally easy mech for new mechwarriors to grow accustomed to. Concerned that, the ease of piloting, general ruggedness and low price tag, might have the Inferno become seen as a training mech Starcorps provided a shipment of Infernos decked out with high end clan weaponry the the AFFS' elite. The Davion Guards.
This R Variant of the Inferno spares no expense in its weaponry, mounting twin clan SRM 6 racks with 1 ton of ammo between them as the back up weapons, the R then mates twin clan-tech ER Large lasers and a clan-tech ER PPC all tied to a clan-tech targeting computer. I imagine it was a unpleasant surprise for the the enemies of the Federated Suns. This kind of firepower in a total zombie in the hands of an elite pilot could not have been a pleasant encounter. The Inferno Romero clocks in at 11,776,064 C-bills, with a Battle value of 2360.
So there you go, the INF-NO Inferno Omnimech, was it a 75 savour, the perfect mech for the AFFS at a time of need? A 75 ton boondoggle that never should have been produced? Or is it simply one of the many many “meh” designs out there? I'm eager to hear everyone's opinions as always.
For my part, I like it, the Inferno is a dangerous mech because it's not necessarily going to stand out, it's going to keep doing reliable damage, often in big chunks, and I suspect because it doesn't have a ton of firepower, and is so durable, it'll have time to really lay out the damage.
My fav variant is probably the Prime. It's a solid machine, for a VERY reasonable cost.
