It occurs to me there might be an opportunity in the wheeled BA to exploit a new niche; a trailer for BA. Since my playtesters are long gone, I'm left to wonder what a reasonable project would resemble and the rules required to utilize (but not exploit) such a design would look like.
On the BA itself (in XTRO Republic II), the Remnant presents it a BA that, "could very well have become the linchpin of the RAF’s battle armor corps". Using a Quad-BA frame, Stealth Armor, DWP, and modular turret, I'm not seeing any advantage in terms of mass or crits where wheels would become a preferred option. Thus, I suggest the use of something a little odd - a series of dedicated trailers, utilizing a specific type of weapon, and using a similar set of rules to the ones for vehicle trailers.
If it works, we know what some of the disadvantages will be (a loss of ground speed being the most serious) and the opportunity to provide a tow-vehicle for both purpose-built and official gun trailers a major bonus. -Yes, I know some of the official trailers (like the namesake, 35-ton trailer of 3145: Mercenaries) might be too heavy to pull. But, a rule that a top-tier Assault Tractor-BA must be at least 10% of a Trailer's mass would allow a 2 ton BA to tow a 20 ton trailer with a negligible investment. Right there, it has the potential to break the 'No Super-units' rule of my AU - but a countervailing argument would be that proper gearing to allow the BA to move it would limit its speed to perhaps a single hex/Turn. Certainly acceptable, in my eyes.
Also, wheels and axles require much less in terms of technology and mass; I'd expect a reduction of the mass required for the BA's Internal Structure in exchange, perhaps enough to allow a deliberately larger engine (and the resulting increase in speed) that might allow it to tow more than one trailer at a time. (This is something I exploit in my AU; a C3-linked Lance of APCs with four missile- or Mech Mortar-armed trailers apiece become insanely dangerous.)
...Imagine a 2,000 kg BA-T vehicle with a purpose-built 20-ton siege trailer using front-mounted RL-10s; even after 1/5 of the trailer weight is assigned to armor, that still leaves the possibility of Macross-style missile spam with 32 RLs or 320 missiles from a single unit. Or, if sustained fire is desired, twin MML-9s with two tons of ammo apiece, half LRM and half SRM. Or with Clan missile tech, three LRM-15s, CASE, and four tons of ammo.
So, comments? Opinions? Suggestions? I suspect 10%, or ten tons, would be more realistic, although given the way teams of draft horses could out-pull tractors because of the traction advantage of their hooves over wheels, I might reconsider.
