OBT Forum

Going to the other extreme of silly I present the CDA-5WTF Cicada

CDA-5WTF

Mass: 40 tons
Chassis: Kell Endosteel 240
Power Plant: Pitban 320XL
Cruising Speed: 86 KPH
Maximum Speed: 129 KPH
Jump Jets: None
Armor Kallon FWL Special Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Kali Yama Big Bore Autocannnon/20
Manufacturer: Free Worlds Defense Industries – Gibson Federated Battlemenchs
Primary Factory: Gibson
Communication System: Datacom 50
Targeting & Tracking System Dnatec 1122
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure  Endo Steel         2
Engine 320XL 11.5
Walking MP: 8
Running MP: 12
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks 10(20)
Gyro 4
Cockpit           3
Armor 71 4
IS Armor
Head 3 9
CT 12 12/6
RT/LT 10 8/3
R/L Arm          6 4
R/L Leg         10 7

Weapons & Ammo Loc Crit Tonnage
AC/20 LT/CT   9/2 14
Ammo (5) RT   1 1

Overview:
The CDA-5WTF began life as a thought experiment that eventually turned into a production battlemech.  The origin of the design was a meeting between several of the FWL's best mechwarriors and a design team from FWDI in 3050.  During the meeting, the two groups discussed roles and uses for the new technologies that were being recovered from the Helm Memory Core.  One mechwarrior, Anton Masters, a noted light mech pilot, lamented the apparent death of the fast recon.  With the availability of the XL engine, medium and heavy mechs could be made as fast or faster then many existing recon mechs,  while still retaining their heavy armament.   While throwing around ideas, one member of the design team suggested putting an AC/20 on a Cicada, creating a recon mech with a huge punch.  After the laughter ended, the team began crunching some numbers and discovered that this would work, the end result being the CDA-5WTF.

Capabilities:
The new Cicada is little more then a gun on legs.  The chassis was modified to mount the large Kali Yama Big Bore Autocannon/20 in place of the Imperator Ultra Autocannon/5 mounted on the standard production model.  The large gun, combined with an Endo Steel Frame, Ferro-Fibrous Armor and an XL Engine left little room for anything else.  As a result the Cicada only carries 5 rounds of ammunition for it's big gun and no secondary weaponry.

Deployment:
The Cicada has been deployed to recon lances across the FWL.  It is usually paired with other mechs, such as the Spider, that are not as dependant on ammunition, so that they can support the Cicada when it withdraws after running out of ammo.  During wargames, FWL mechwarriors have developed a new tactic with the Cicada.  While the remainder of the lance or company that it is assigned to pins down the enemy, the Cicada uses it's speed to manuever to the enemies rear, unleashing it's powerful canon against the weaker rear armor. The enemy mechwarrior is then forced to either turn and face the Cicada, exposing it's rear to the rest of the unit, or hope it can survive until the Cicada runs out of ammo.

Variant:
There is one variant of the Cicada under development.  This version replaces the Pitban 320XL with a Magna 280XL engine.  While this does slightly reduce the top speed of the Cicada, the design team was able to add 6 Rawlings 50 Jump Jets, increasing the mobility of the design.  The Ferro-Fibrous armor is replaced with standard Durallex Light armor.  To compensate for the change the design team added an addition half ton of plating to the torso and legs.  The smaller engine made more room in the torso, which was used to add a second ton of AC/20 Ammo, doubling the endurance of the mech. 

Here is a proof of concept design I was beating around in my head today and it could work. Basically, a fast walking Demolisher Tank with giant barrel arms containing the massive autocannons which make it so fearsome. The arms have no lower arm or hand actuators and so can flip. Price tag is 20 million C-bills. What do you think guys?

DSP-1R DESPOILER

Tonnage: 80 tons

Equipment                           Mass
Internal Structure:          EndoSteel            4
Engine:            320 XL            11.5
   Walking MP:         4
   Running MP:         6 ( 8 )
   Jumping MP:         0
Heat Sinks:            10 (20)               0
Gyro:                              4
Cockpit:                           3
Armor Factor:            247               15.5

            Internal Structure      Armor Value
   Head            3            9
   Center Torso           25            40 / 10
   R/L Torso         17            26 / 8
   R/L Arm         13            26
   R/L Leg         17            34

Weapons and Ammo:      Location      Criticals   Mass
Autocannon/20         Right Arm      10      14
Ammo (AC) 10         Right Torso      2      2
Autocannon/20         Left Arm      10      14
Ammo (AC) 15         Left Torso      3      3
ER Large Laser         Center Torso      2      5
MASC               Right Torso      4      4

I like that idea Abele, moves it forward and not a horrible idea for a slugger.

Tried multiple ideas and I can't come up with a better one than the Charger variant.

The Marauder II might be an idea.

You wanted a heavy slugger- here's one suggestion


ANH-4H Annihilator

Mass: 100 tons
Chassis: Star League MN-01
Power Plant: Nissan 200
Cruising Speed: 21 KPH
Maximum Speed: 32 KPH
Jump Jets: None
Armor  Star Shield Special-B
Armament:
4 Defiance Mech Hunter
Manufacturer: None
Primary Factory: N/A
Communication System: Garret T19-G
Targeting & Tracking System Wasat Aggressor Type 5
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure  10
Engine 200 8.5
Walking MP: 2
Running MP: 3
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks 10(20)
Gyro   2
Cockpit           3
Armor 264 16.5
IS Armor
Head 3 9
CT 31 35/10
RT/LT 21 30/9
R/L Arm         17 33
R/L Leg         21 33

Weapons & Ammo Loc Crit Tonnage
AC/20 LA 10 14
AC/20 RA 10 14
AC/20 RT/CT 9/1 14
AC/20 LT/CT 9/1 14
Ammo (10) RL   2 2
Ammo (10) LL   2 2
Overview:
The ANH-4H was developed as the result of a bet between 2 engineers at Defiance Industries.  One of the engineers bet the other that he could not design a mech carrying 4 Class 20 Autocannons.  After looking at several different chassis, the first engineer realized that the Annihilator could be modified to carry 4 Defiance Mech Hunters.  While the design did meet the requirements of the bet, both engineers acknowledge that the mech would be ineffective anywhere outside of an urban setting.  They even went so far as suggesting that the mech should probably be called the Urbanking, rather then the Annihilator. 

Capabilities:
The ANH-4H is built around 4 class 20 autocannons.  These weapons take up so much room, the mechs ammunition is carried in the legs.  Limited to only 5 rounds per autocannon, the mech has no secondary weapons, once the ammo runs out the mech is only capable of physical attacks. 

Deployment:
The mech was never intended for production and the design never left the drawing board.

Variants:
The two engineers involved in the bet continued to toy with the design in their spare time.  In an effort to make the mech more usable, they toyed with the idea of removing 1 autocannon.  This allowed them to mount a 300 rated XL fusion engine, increasing the speed of the mech.  With more room, the designers added 2 more heat sinks, 4 more tons of ammo, all of which is moved to space freed up in the right torso, a CASE, 4 medium lasers and 1.5 tons of armor.  While the design is still considered impractical by many, some members of the AFFC High Command (Mainly those from the Lyran Commonwealth) have pressed to put the design into production.

Well I think I will put a deadline on this thread so I can get down to business. Who is gonna make the cut? Which designs will be good enough to deliver their AC/20 payloads against the Clans or others in my unfolding AU? If you have any other concepts please get them in by Monday April 30th Midnight Eastern time so they can be evaluated. So far, we have a dozen designs featuring the Autocannon/20 by five different designs. Three of them are mine so I am going to ask for your help in reviewing them and I’d love to hear what you think of them all.

HBK-6K Hunchback (by Takiro) 50 tons – 5/8 MP – 1 AC/20
CGR-2A5 Charger (by Ice Hellion) 80 tons - 4/6 ( 8 ) MP – 1 AC/20
INV-1DS Invictus (by Takiro) 50 tons – 6 (7)/ 9 (11) MP – 1 AC/20
VTR-9A3 Victor (by Abele) 80 tons – 4/6/4 MP – 1 AC/20
AS7-S Atlas (by Abele) 100 tons – 3/5 MP – 1 AC/20
AS7-JS Atlas (by Abele) 100 tons – 3/5/3 MP – 1 AC/20
CDA-5WTF Cicada (by Irose) 40 tons – 8/12 MP – 1 AC/20
DSP-1R Despoiler (by Takiro) 80 tons - 4/6 ( 8 ) MP – 2 AC/20s
FNR-4X Fafnir (by Abele) 100 tons – 3/5 MP – 2 AC/20s
CGR-2D5 Charger (by Bradshaw) 80 tons – 4/6 ( 8 ) MP – 1 AC/20
KGC-0001 King Crab (by Bradshaw) 100 tons – 3/5 MP – 2 AC/20s
ANH-4H Annihilator (by Irose) 100 tons – 2/3 MP – 4 AC/20s!