Catalyst 35130 - CBT - Technical ...

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TM
table of contents
introduction
4
Leopard Pocket WarShip
106
Gladiator
206
cutting edge
8
Union Pocket WarShip
108
Von Rohrs
208
inner sphere
10
Mule Pocket WarShip
110
Kiso
210
Nighthawk Mk. XXI PA(L)
12
Excalibur Pocket WarShip
112
Sabre
212
Tornado PA(L)
14
clan
114
Vulture
214
Djinn
16
Aerie PA(L)
116
Samarkand (Carrier)
216
Kobold
18
Afreet
118
federated suns
218
Asura
20
Clan Medium
120
Darter Scout Car
220
Rottweiler
22
Corona
122
Prometheus Combat Support Bridgelayer
222
Se’irim
24
Rogue Bear
124
BattleAxe
224
Trinity
26
Golem
126
Hammerhands
226
Void
28
Bellona Hover Tank
128
Jabberwocky EngineerMech
228
Phalanx
30
SM1 Tank Destroyer
130
Centurion
230
Tengu
32
Bear Cub
132
Vampire
232
Grenadier
34
Crimson Hawk
134
Robinson (Transport)
234
Hauberk
36
Ocelot
136
capellan confederation
236
Nephilim
38
“Pariah”
138
Korvin Tank
238
Shedu
40
Sun Cobra
140
Stork Light Refueling Craft
240
Crow Scout Helicopter
42
Balius
142
Firebee
242
MIT 23 MASH Vehicle
44
Ryoken II
144
Koschei
244
Tamerlane Strike Sled
46
Cygnus
146
Xanthos
246
Saxon APC
48
Jupiter
148
DemolitionMech
248
Hiryo Armored Infantry Transport
50
Erinyes
150
Lightning
250
Danai Support Vehicle
52
Cecerops
152
Du Shi Wang (Battleship)
252
Condor Hover Tank (Upgrade)
54
Orc
154
free Worlds league
254
JES I Tactical Missile Carrier
56
Procyon
156
Mauna Kea Command Vessel
256
Thumper Artillery Vehicle
58
Chrysaor
158
Paramour Mobile Repair Vehicle
258
DI Morgan Assault Tank
60
Basilisk
160
Icarus II
260
JI-50 “Jifty” Transportable Field Repair Unit
62
Triton
162
Patron LoaderMech
262
O-66 HMRV “Oppie”
64
Delphyne
164
Eagle
264
Malak
66
age of War
166
Deathstalker
266
Valiant
68
terran hegemony
168
Aquarius and Lyonesse
268
Wight
70
Cobra Transport VTOL
170
Explorer JumpShip
270
Mongoose II
72
Turhan
172
lyran commonWealth
272
Preta
74
Merkava Mk. VIII Heavy Tank
174
Marsden II Main Battle Tank
274
Legionnaire
76
Jackrabbit
176
Büfel VII Engineering Support Vehicle
276
Eyleuka
78
Kyudo
178
Crossbow
278
Grigori
80
Galahad
180
Ymir
280
Patriot
82
Helepolis
182
Lumberjack
282
Deva
84
Atlas II
184
Typhoon
284
Deiance
86
Mackie
186
Thunderbird
286
Warlord
88
Hellcat
188
Tharkad (BattleCruiser)
288
periphery
290
Seraph
90
Manatee
190
Archangel
92
Pentagon
192
Ignis
292
Titan II
94
Dictator
194
Dromedary Water Transport
294
Toro
296
Hyena SalvageMech
96
Model 96 “Elephant”
196
Shade
98
Colossus
198
Phoenix
298
Rusalka
100
draconis combine
200
Quasit MilitiaMech
300
Striga
102
Sabaku Kaze Heavy Scout Hover Tank
202
Vulcan
302
2
Aurora
104
Daimyo HQ 67-K
204
credits
Writing
Herb A. Beas II
Randall N. Bills
Ken’ Horner
Nick Marsala
David McCulloch
Ben Rome
Jason Schmetzer
Paul Sjardijn
Additional Writing
special thanks
It’s high time the entire writing crew for
BattleTech
is thanked for the numerous excellent upgrades and
revisions of Technical Readouts slid into the schedule over the last several years (while still working on the new
products). Willing to tackle one more project, the authors—especially Nick Marsala, Ken’ Horner and Jason
Schmetzer, who are always waiting to write more when others are too jammed-up—deserve a giant thanks for
their dedication.
To Doug Chafee for taking on way more than he originally signed on for and taking his work to a whole
new level.
To Brent Evans, whose love and dedication to
BattleTech
is so plain in this TRO. Not only did he tackle
innumerable revisions of the look for the “Celestials” and now the “Demons” and “Spectral” series to create a
unique, cohesive look, but he threw his all into the crafting of the “primitive” looks for the ’Mechs in the Age of War
section; again, often through many iterations. I’ve worked with a lot of artists over many, many years and the work
with Brent of crafting the “cutting edge” Word of Blake look while simultaneously going back to the beginning and
crafting the “irst” ’Mechs has been one of the most enjoyable of my career...thanks Brent.
To the ever solid Chris Wheeler and Mike Miller—as well as the entire fact checking group—that are so
critical to helping such products “slide into the schedule”, and who are constantly working with us (often pushing
us) to improve the quality of every product.
To the battle value crew that worked overtime, often through constant revisions, to provide complete battle
values for every unit in this TRO: Joel Bancroft-Connors, Jim Rapkins, Christopher K. Searls, Björn “Keiran” Schmidt,
Chris Wheeler.
Björn Schmidt
product development
Randall N. Bills
Assistant Development
Chris Wheeler
production editing
Mike Miller would like to thank Adam Smith for teaching him to respect the medium laser and the BattleMaster.
battletech line developer
Herb A. Beas II
©2008 WizKids, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Classic BattleTech Technical Readout: 3075, Classic BattleTech, BattleTech,
’Mech, BattleMech, MechWarrior and WK Games logo are registered trademarks and/or trademarks of WizKids, Inc
in the United States and/or other countries. No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system,
or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the Copyright Owner, nor
be otherwise circulated in any form other than that in which it is published. Catalyst Game Labs and the Catalyst
Game Labs logo are trademarks of InMediaRes Productions, LLC.”
production staf
Randall N. Bills
Cover Art
Michael Komarck
Cover Design
Published by Catalyst Game Labs, an imprint of InMediaRes Productions, LLC
PMB 202 • 303 91
st
Ave NE • G701 • Lake Stevens, WA 98258
Ray Arrastia
Ray Arrastia
Illustrations
find us online:
Ray Arrastia
classicbattletech@catalystgamelabs.com
Doug Chafee
(e-mail address for any Classic BattleTech questions)
Brent Evans
Duane Loose
(oicial Classic BattleTech web pages)
Matt Plog
Evolved Faction Logos Design
(Catalyst web pages)
Jason Vargas
Classic BattleTech Logo Design
(oicial MechWarrior web pages)
Shane Hartley and Steve Walker
(WizKids web pages)
proofers
Rich Cencarik, Jim Rapkins, Björn “Keiran” Schmidt,
and Patrick Wynne.
(online ordering)
3
Jim Rapkins
Mike Miller
Jason M. Hardy
Art Direction
Layout
introduction
Indolent. Decadent. Corpulent. Gluttonous. Ignominious.
These are but a few of the descriptions splashed with disdain upon my name. That the blood of the Dragon lows in my veins—while my
person seems so stained—has shamed many for long, long years. Yet there is irony,
so ka
. Irony in the very fabric of my existence.
Wheels within wheels within wheels. A perfect, never-ending symmetry of lines, circles, and whorls undulating across the Inner Sphere
in a skein few see and fewer comprehend. Not even the legendary
cha-no-yu
(and the perfection of that ceremony’s garden) performed by
the greatest tea master of the last century—Jiro Ishiyama—on Echo V might compare. Like the lost treasure of Jiro and his craft, I have spent
a lifetime honing my skills. Dissembling. Obfuscating. Falsifying. Most assume the media or my enemies branded me “Uncle Chandy,” yet the
decades-old moniker comes from my own hand. After all, one can never suspect the Smiling Buddha.
There are legion that practice this same craft, from astute businessman to the blackest SpecOps teams of the Houses’ intelligence agen-
cies. Yet mine is a craft not of my own hand, but an apparatus gifted to me as a matriarchal legacy of blood across generations. Backed by
unlimited funds and beholden to no one but my own Honor to the Dragon, I am ensconced in a rather unique position.
Yet, even now, long committed to this course of action, revealing my hand is anathema. Painful. What should have taken mere moments
has consumed days as I struggle to overcome my obsession with standing in the shadows and emerge to the light.
But now it begins.
For long years I have hunted secrets in the dark. I have derived much enjoyment from puzzling over ancient mysteries and discovering
vanished tomes and treasures. Yet I have always striven to protect the Dragon. Even as the Federated Commonwealth was riven with civil war,
I doubted the authenticity of the Word of Blake. I saw how they practiced my own precious art of subterfuge, and I re-allocated vast resources
to discovering their Truth. As the Jihad began to unfold, I was forced to stand idle, my knowledge unused. Knowing that any stolen details
I provided, even to the Dragon, would expose inroads made against the Blakists. Iniltrations would be found and exterminated, a decade’s
work lost. Even with the crown of the Combine embattled and falling, my hands were tied. Many will decry my actions, branding me a traitor
worse than any usurping Von Rohrs. Yet I stayed the course, delving ever deeper to discover the secrets behind the Word of Blake.
I have discovered and veriied those secrets. The location of one of their Hidden Worlds. And more. Much more.
With such power in hand it is time to step forward. Time to entrust the power of those secrets to those who will use them with brutal ei-
cacy, while I continue my own clandestine campaign. To accompany those Blake Documents, I am providing a comprehensive document in the
traditional Wolfnet (and ComStar before them) technical speciication readout format. The
Cutting Edge
section documents the latest machines
of war marching of Inner Sphere and Clan assembly lines, while the
Age of War
section details information discovered within the Hegemony
Memory Core and the current rise of those designs following its comprehensive and rapid dissemination in the early years of the Jihad.
May fate smile upon all of us as we strive against the Word of Blake. As I stand in the light, eyes adjusting to its harshness, I know that I have
signed my own death warrant. And yet even one born to shadows knows
giri
and must stand against the darkness at the day of judgment.
Honor to the Dragon.
—Chandrasekhar Kurita
31 January 3075
4
introduction
BattleMechs: the aesthetic evolution
For reasons only known to my master, Chandrasekhar Kurita has allowed inclusion in this document of a short dissertation concerning the
evolution of BattleMech visual aesthetics, which is perhaps quite itting in a document covering both the latest, cutting-edge BattleMech designs
as well as the irst, primitive designs from six hundred years ago. I’ve burned his ears into the early hours many a night with my fascination on the
subject. Yet I hope to be brief and avoid passing to you, the reader, the burden that my master so easily bears. Keep in mind I am not referring to the
development of technology, which is covered by a legion of experts and historians through endless text books and technical briefs, including this
very document. Instead I refer to how the armor is shaped and the weapons placed: the ’Mech’s appearance in its inal form.
Vehicles most often embody the simplest, most efective way to mount armor upon a chassis. There is a balance at work, where bean
counters seek the cheapest form of production while soldiers strive to maintain appropriate combat protection. There are some exotic exam-
ples, especially among the Clans, where the dominance of the warrior culture—especially seen in the slavish use of animalistic symbolism—
has led to some unique vehicle armor conigurations. Despite these exceptions, vehicles tend to fall into a rather straightforward template,
which has been copied with only subtle variations across millennia.
BattleMechs, however, are an altogether diferent category, somewhat akin to those odd Clan vehicles. When the uninitiated refer to
BattleMechs as “walking tanks,” they are missing the mark; no one who has stood at the foot of one of these titans ever employs such terminol-
ogy. The sheer presence of a walking metal titan conjures subconscious, deeply embedded mythological (and cultural) symbols, imbuing the
’Mech with power well beyond its battleield capabilities. Psychological warfare at its inest. The Inner Sphere’s centuries-old culture that em-
braces the MechWarrior elite—strengthened by the dominance of hereditary nobilities in Sphere government—only enhances these aspects.
When BattleMechs irst walked of Terran Hegemony assembly lines, such thoughts were far from the minds of scientists and engineers.
Compared to the latest crop of designs, the irst BattleMech, the
Mackie
, was ungainly, with disproportioned limbs, overly large feet, torso, and
head. It also tended toward curves and rounded lines; an extravagance of engineering for its time, but one that would vanish immediately as it
failed to be cost efective. Such ungainliness, along with the almost simplistic armor coniguration, completely relected the concept of a walk-
ing tank—simple, direct, and ungainly. Just as the Mark I tank irst rolled forth with ugly performance across the battleield in 1916 on ancient
Terra, mounting primitive technologies
1
, the
Mackie
took its irst stumbling steps and changed warfare for ever.
As soon as additional prototype BattleMechs appeared, the curves and rounded lines gave way to blocky shapes and hard edges (once
again the bean counters lexed their clout, as it proved too expensive to mass-produce rounded armor at the time). However, with the tech-
nology still in its infancy, many ’Mechs still sported disproportioned limbs. Though the “primitive stage” of BattleMech development would
only last from 2439 to approximately 2520
2
, many “modern stage”
3
BattleMechs designed during this same time period or shortly thereafter
sported the same lack of proportion. By 2500, however—whether through aesthetic dictate or maturing of design capabilities—most new
designs elimated that ungainly look. The
Victor
and
Dervish
are excellent examples of these early designs with their blocky, hard edges, yet
proportionate limbs.
In the time of the Star League, a new aesthetic emerged. Harkening back to the era of the
Mackie
, the ’Mechs that would become the
workhorses of the Star League Defense Force—and would later be sold to the House Lords—sported simplistic armor designs. What’s more,
advances in technology allowed for the mass production of curved, crystal-aligned steel armor. A few of these designs even embraced the
disproportionate look, such as the
Thug
and
Crockett
. Some of the cutting-edge Star League designs, such as the
Night Hawk
and
Lynx
, would
take the smooth curves to a new extreme while embracing a stylized armor aesthetic.
5
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