This one goes back a while, folks.
Liam’s Ghost created the original for the Geocities ComStar Naval Archive (RIP) several years ago, back before TRO’57R was released and far before
Jihad Secrets: The Blake Documents brought us the rules for building primitive fighters and ’Mechs. I’ve always had a soft spot for the design, for reasons I can’t quite articulate, and I worked it into the background of my
Virginia War fics almost without realising it. When it became semi-relevant to ‘current’ events in that AU, I tried to put together an updated version, and the release of the Primitive rules - and the artwork for the
Firebird in
Era Digest: Age of War - were the last pieces I needed to do it. Now, the base assumptions of
TVW forced me to make some changes to the original design, and the weight-pinch of primitive tech did more, but I think what emerged is decent in its own right
and remains quite faithful to the spirit of the original.
For the benefit of the purists, I’ve attached a copy of the original TAF-132 .txt file to the bottom of this post, so you can do a side-by-side of the two designs and decide what I did wrong.
I’ve also attached SSDs for the three variants of the
Viper under the rules of
Renegade Tech and
The Virginia War AU, in case anyone would like to try out those rules and the
Viper under them.
(If you do, your feedback is eagerly sought!)
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: TAF-132 Viper TVW
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2573
Vessel Type: Aerospace Fighter
Rules: Level 3, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 40 tons
Frame: Taggart Aerospace Type-132
Power Plant: Magna Primitive 240 Fusion
Safe Thrust: 7
Maximum Thrust: 11
Armor Type: Taggart Aerospace Primitive
Armament:
1 Magna Mk III Large Laser
2 Magna Mk II Medium Laser
2 Sperry Browning Machine Gun
Manufacturer: Taggart Aerospace Firm
Location: Various
Communications System: Taggart Aerospace Type-132
Targeting & Tracking System: Taggart Aerospace Type-132
------------------------------------------------------------------------------==Overview:== The Taurian Concordat developed the TAF-132
Viper as part of an emergency military build-up program shortly before the start of the Reunification War. With war becoming inevitable in the aftermath of the Malagrotta incident, the Concordat needed effective weapons, and they needed them quickly. The Taggart Aerospace Firm (formerly a producer of civilian shuttles and pleasure craft) was one of the first Taurian companies to answer the call. In an amazing feat of design work, they had complete plans for their new
Viper aerospace fighter drawn up within three weeks. Prototypes were quickly constructed and rushed through testing soon after, and though a few minor problems were discovered during the abbreviated test phases, the craft was nevertheless deemed adequate, and full production began barely three months after the design first appeared on the drawing board. All in all, it was a remarkable achievement.
==Capabilities:== The Taggart Aerospace Firm Type 132
Viper was a technological throwback to the early Age of War, intended to hit the ‘cheap’ and ‘fast’ points of the notorious ‘cheap/fast/good’ triangle of engineering priorities and fill out TDF ranks rapidly in the face of the Star League’s impending aggression.
Despite the frantic rush that went into development and production of the
Viper, for its day the craft was remarkably formidable - equal or better to any other light fighter in existence at the time. Bearing an eerie visual similarity to the
Firebird, a long-retired Capellan ground-attack ASF, the TAF-132 was actually biased towards the air-superiority mission, enjoying better acceleration than the Mujika machine. The core of its firepower was a laser-cannon mounted in the nose, backed up by wing-mounted medium lasers. Although many pilots commented on the main laser’s lacklustre armour-penetration in the air-to-ground role, it was a remarkably heavy weapon for a fighter so small, and in the
Viper’s primary assignment of aerospace superiority made it disproportionately powerful - and feared - for much of the ensuing war.
The
Viper’s other armament, a pair of wing-mounted machine-guns, were less well-regarded and often cause for bafflement. The short range and low muzzle-velocity of the machine-guns limited their offensive utility, and as a general rule pilots rarely fired them in combat conditions. In fact, many pilots actually got into the habit of leaving the ammo bay for the machine-guns empty, sacrificing a rather dubious pair of weapons in order to avoid carrying ‘unnecessary’ explosive ammunition. Despite the best efforts of Taggart’s designers and test-pilots to explain the proper use of the machine-guns - as point-defence weapons in pre-merge missile-duels - the TDF spent much of the Reunification War demanding a redesign, replacing the machine-guns and ammunition with a heat-sink and more armour, and it seems likely that this would have occurred had circumstances permitted.
Though the
Viper’s armour was rather thin - and the use of older, cheaper, weaker formulations did nothing to improve protection - it was actually comparable to other light fighters of its day. Despite its relative mass-inefficiency, the
Viper’s engine was also quite powerful, imparting the fighter with an impressive degree of agility.
The biggest flaw in the
Viper was its antiquated computer system. Though the system itself functioned reliably, the displays were known to go out on occasion (a result of inadequate quality control during the testing stage), and usually at the worst possible time. This could leave a pilot with few or no instruments to guide him, forcing him to fly entirely by the seat of his pants. In nearly a quarter-millenium of service, nobody has been able to figure out how to permanently fix this problem without completely replacing the computer. The most effective temporary solution appears to be to vigorously beat on the offending monitor until it either starts running again or breaks permanently so it can be replaced.
Interestingly enough, many pilots do not mind the problem. In fact, many pilots, mostly old veterans, take a certain comfort in it. The pure necessity of occasionally having to fly entirely on instinct has given these pilots a knack for handling their craft in some of the most nightmarish conditions imaginable. As one pilot put it, many
Viper drivers know their fighters even more intimately than they know their wives, and they’d sooner give up their wife than their
Viper. (Wags have commented that there may be a healthy research-grant in determining what effect this attitude has on the divorce rate amongst the
Viper-pilot community.)
==Deployment== The Concordat turned out
Vipers as quickly as it could before and during the Reunification War, the lower technology involved making mass-producing machines relatively speedy and simple. Nobody is entirely certain of the total number built, but as many as three hundred were still around by the end of the war. Star League forces captured many of these on the ground at various production facilities across the Concordat, as the production of aerofighters had quickly outstripped the Taurians’ ability to train replacement pilots. All of these surviving fighters were confiscated as part of the Concordat’s ‘war reparations’; most were given to House Davion in partial ‘compensation’ for the Malagrotta Affair and Case Amber, and even today more than a hundred survive in backwater garrison units in the Federated Suns. Over the centuries, small numbers have found their way into other parts of the Inner Sphere and Near Periphery.
Ironically, for almost a century and a half the Taurian Concordat operated no
Vipers.
==Variants:== After a century and a half without
Vipers in its inventory, the TDF regained access to the Taggart machine through the machinations of Stefan Amaris. Both the Taurian Freedom Army and the divisions of BattleMechs Amaris was assembling to enact his grand gambit needed fighter support if they were to contend with the mighty Star League Defence Force, and like the TR-A-6
Toro, the
Viper was affordable, reliable, easy to repair and mass-produce, and perhaps most importantly a symbol of Taurian defiance. Covert Rim Worlds support for the rearmament process led to the
Viper being brought up to modern technological standards, a process that also rectified several flaws in the original model that Taggart Aerospace had not had the chance to correct in the mad scramble that led up to the Reunification War. Although no faster than the historical TAF-132, the new TAF-143 mounted modern armour, more heat-sinks, and an additional three ordnance stanchions, allowing it to carry a full warload without impairing its performance.
Recent advances in the Concordat have led to experiments with an even more potent
Viper, though there are conflicting reports about whether or not this ‘TAF-145’ has reached front-line service, much less in meaningful numbers. Driven by a first-generation lightweight powerplant and armed with an extended-range laser-cannon and two 50mm particle-guns - reverse-engineered by the revived Taurus WarWorks from articles taken from captured pirate
Leones - the refurbished
Viper promises to be a more ferocious proposition than ever before.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name: TAF-132 Viper TVW
Mass: 40 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: 240 Primitive Fusion 11.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 7
Maximum Thrust: 11
Structural Integrity: 7 .00
Total Heat Sinks: 10 Single .00
Fuel: 5.00
Primitive Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters: 5.00
Armor Type: Primitive (80 total armor pts) 7.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Nose: 30
Left/Right Wings: 20/20
Aft: 10
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Large Laser Nose 8 8 -- -- 8 5.00
1 Medium Laser RW 5 -- -- -- 3 1.00
1 Medium Laser LW 5 -- -- -- 3 1.00
1 Machine Gun RW 2 -- -- -- 0 .50
1 Machine Gun LW 2 -- -- -- 0 .50
Ammo (MG) 100 --- .50
5 XO stanchion 2.50
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 14 40.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 2,273,880 C-Bills
Battle Value: 619
Cost per BV: 3,673.47
Weapon Value: 923 (Ratio = 1.49)
Damage Factors: SRV = 14; MRV = 4; LRV = 0; ERV = 0
BattleForce2: MP: 8, Armor/Structure: 2 / 0
Damage PB/M/L: 2/1/-, Overheat: 0
Class: FL; Point Value: 6
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: TAF-143 Viper TVW
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2762
Vessel Type: Aerospace Fighter
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 40 tons
Frame: TTI Type-143
Power Plant: Warner 200 Fusion
Armor Type: Starshield Standard
Armament:
1 Magna Mk III Large Laser
2 Magna Mk II Medium Laser
Manufacturer: Taurus Territorial Industries
Location: Sterope
Communications System: BipStar 49-G
Targeting & Tracking System: Ki-II TTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: 200 Fusion 8.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 7
Maximum Thrust: 11
Structural Integrity: 7 .00
Total Heat Sinks: 14 Single 4.00
Fuel: 5.00
Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters: 3.00
Armor Type: Standard (136 total armor pts) 8.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Nose: 44
Left/Right Wings: 34/34
Aft: 24
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Large Laser Nose 8 8 -- -- 8 5.00
1 Medium Laser RW 5 -- -- -- 3 1.00
1 Medium Laser LW 5 -- -- -- 3 1.00
8 XO stanchion 4.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 14 40.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 2,319,280 C-Bills
Battle Value: 796
Cost per BV: 2,913.67
Weapon Value: 1,112 (Ratio = 1.40)
Damage Factors: SRV = 17; MRV = 6; LRV = 0; ERV = 0
BattleForce2: MP: 7, Armor/Structure: 3 / 0
Damage PB/M/L: 2/1/-, Overheat: 0
Class: FL; Point Value: 8
AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
VALIDATED
Class/Model/Name: TAF-145 Viper TVW
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2824
Vessel Type: Aerospace Fighter
Rules: Level 2, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 40 tons
Frame: TTI Type-145
Power Plant: Taurus University Generation-1 200 Light Fusion
Armor Type: Starshield Standard
Armament:
1 Taurus WarWorks ER Large Laser
2 Taurus WarWorks Light PPC
Manufacturer: Taurus Territorial Industries
Location: Sterope
Communications System: BipStar 49-G
Targeting & Tracking System: Ki-II TTS
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant: 200 Light Fusion 6.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 7
Maximum Thrust: 11
Structural Integrity: 7 .00
Total Heat Sinks: 11 Double 1.00
Fuel: 5.00
Cockpit & Attitude Thrusters: 3.00
Armor Type: Standard (152 total armor pts) 9.50
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Nose: 50
Left/Right Wings: 36/36
Aft: 30
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 ER Large Laser Nose 8 8 8 -- 12 5.00
1 Light PPC RW 5 5 -- -- 5 3.00
1 Light PPC LW 5 5 -- -- 5 3.00
8 XO stanchion 4.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS: Heat: 22 40.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 4,160,880 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,050
Cost per BV: 3,962.74
Weapon Value: 1,330 (Ratio = 1.27)
Damage Factors: SRV = 17; MRV = 13; LRV = 2; ERV = 0
BattleForce2: MP: 7, Armor/Structure: 4 / 0
Damage PB/M/L: 2/2/1, Overheat: 0
Class: FL; Point Value: 11
Author
Topic: TDF - Aero - Viper (Read 6459 times)