Overview:
The HNT-101 Hornet was the first recon 'Mech to be mass-produced for the Capellan military. Though eventually overshadowed by other designs, its historical primacy is so complete that the Confederation considers Earthwerk's Stinger to be a subtype of Hornet. This attitude is reversed in neighboring states- the Federated Suns regard it as a Wasp variant, while the Free Worlds League considers it a Stinger.
Kallon industries devised the LAM variant in response to a Star League request in 2739. By that time, the SLDF was using LAMs on periphery worlds to hunt down subversives before demonstrations could get out of hand, and they found existing LAM designs too easily recognized. Kallon's solution was twofold. First, they redesigned the SLDF's standard training BattleMech to resemble the folded fuselage of an LAM in 'Mech mode. This camouflaged the LAMs already in service. Then they created an LAM whose 'Mech mode resembles its parent design exactly.
It was produced in small numbers on Talon until the line wore out in the 2990s. Most surviving Hornets are in Davion hands.
Capabilities:
The Hornet excels at reconnaissance. Where other scout 'Mechs fall prey to their Clan counterparts, the LAM outpaces them while maintaining contact from outside weapons range. If fighters approach it can withdraw to the protecting fire of the main ground force.
Unlike other LAMs, the Hornet is armed only for urban conflict, not for air support nor for action as a quick response force. Its internal mechanisms are unusually convoluted to avoid disrupting the 'Mech's appearance. Nonetheless, Kallon managed to improve on the original by replacing a third laser with a missile launcher.
Because the old Hornet's appearance is mimicked so closely, the HNT-207 is unique among LAMs for not being better armored than its progenitor. Key joints resist warping, shredding and jamming no better than on the HNT-101.
During conversion, the cockpit slides down to the 'Mech's belly and a dummy HNT-101 head slides atop the 'Mech's shoulders. It was hoped that enemy 'Mechs would focus fire at the dummy head instead of the cockpit. However, the pilot is no less exposed and much less comfortable, so the arrangement is of questionable value.
Maintenance needs are on par with 'Mechs ten to twenty tons heavier, but with an advantage over types like the Hunchback or Javelin in that parts unique to it are still manufactured in Davion space at Talon.
Battle History:
Superstition holds that Hornets are vanishing faster than combat attrition and equipment breakdowns allow, but it's more likely that they're being undercounted. LAMs are often assigned to aerospace formations, attached to conventional forces as light 'Mech support, or detached for independent raiding. Hornets in particular are difficult to identify in the first place.
Eight graduates of the Fulker LAM academy, including several Hornet pilots, participated in the relief of Hoff in 3022. They got their battalion out of several scrapes- first helping to escort DropShips and secure drop zones, later trailing Davion companies and then advancing suddenly to help overwhelm any one lance's opponents. Three Hornets were lost, including one in a rare AirMech-vs-AirMech duel.
Another four Hornets landed on the star system's other inhabited world, a heavily industrialized ruin valuable for scavenging. They hounded the small Kuritan force there, striking only at opportune moments, tucking legs in and jetting away whenever their sleepless quarry tried to engage. The exhausted Kuritans surrendered a week later.
Hornets were used extensively in the 3050s to make contact with rebels and spies behind the Truce Line. Losses were minimal, with the bulk coming from a single incident where a group tried to convert modes while still at high speed. Most broke up in flight, though several retained enough gyro control to land using jump jets. They evacuated with other ground forces.
The ComGuards presumably possessed many LAMs--up to a thousand by some estimates--though it's unclear how many were lost on Tukayyid. The recent assault on Terra is known to have used Hornets, reputedly modified to carry nuclear warheads.
House Davion reassigned many of its Hornets to the Capellan and Periphery borders after the Lyran Secession, replacing helicopters on counterinsurgence and anti-smuggling teams already equipped with battlesuits. The LAMs can carry a basket of battlesuits further and faster, weather heavier fire, then land and support actions on the ground. But with so many cutting edge factories damaged and warfare continuing to intensify, these heavily armed teams are being criticized as a frivolous misuse of resources.
Variants:
Individual pilots sometimes replace the miniguns and ammo with three more Martell lasers.
Kallon Industries dramatically simplified the design in 2980, switching production to the now familiar barrel-shape when the LAM line finally failed in the 2990s. It was later upgraded with endo steel from St. Ives, and production stalled when House Liao seized that world and diverted those chassis for use in Duan Gungs.
Efforts to restore and upgrade the LAM production line have been stymied by the complexities of redesigning the Hornet's already complex torso to accommodate CASE. In the meantime, existing Hornets are rotating back to Talon to be refitted with advanced armor and a medium pulse laser.
Notable 'Mechs and MechWarriors:
Sergeant Klava Nina
Sergeant Nina was an Altair Militia pilot until she discovered a Hornet LAM from a long forgotten battle buried under a sand dune. She has since transferred to the second battalion of the Third Dieron Regulars. Her training gives her some facility with the hybrid mode, but she needs a few more months to acclimate to BattleMech operations.
Baron Fred III of Fredonia
Son of a MechWarrior and an aerojock, Fred trained to inherit either machine. Instead, he was awarded a Hornet LAM for clever action during Operation Guerrero. He blames his lance's current straits on legal disputes from his grandfather's day, and sorely wants to capture a stronger 'Mech so he can match the old man's successes.
----------------------------------------------- | | Mass: 25 tons
Chassis: Fischer HNT
Power Plant: Hermes 100
Cruising Speed, Ground: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed, Ground: 64.8 kph
Jet Propulsion System: Vlar 125
Cruising Speed, Air: 1260 kph
Maximum Speed, Air: 1980 kph
Armor Type: Bulletban-80
Armament:
1 Holly LRM 5
2 Martell Small Lasers
2 LFN Lindblad Machine Guns
Manufacturer: Kallon Weapon Industries
Location: Talon
Communications System: Tri-Word Duplex 4880
Targeting & Tracking System: Dalben HiRez II
Type: HNT-207 Hornet LAM
Tech/Rules: Inner Sphere 3025/see notes
Tonnage: 25
Equipment: Crits Mass
Int. Struct.: 0 2.50
Engine: 100 Fusion 6 3.00
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 4
AirMech MP: 21
Thrust MP: 7
OverThrust: 11
Struct. Int.: ??
Heat Sinks: 10 6 .00
Gyro: 4 1.00
Cockpit: 5 3.00
Armor Factor: 64 pts 0 4.00
Internal Armor
Structure Value Critical Hit Table
H: 3 8 LSC .SL
CT/r: 8 8/4 EEE GGG GEE E.*
LT/r: 6 8/2 ... ... hhh ***
RT/r: 6 8/2 ... ... hhh ***
LA: 4 6 Xxx X.. ... ...
RA: 4 6 Xxx X.. ... ...
LL: 6 6 Xxx X..
RL: 6 6 Xxx X..
Weapons and Ammo Loc Crits Mass
-----------------------------------------------
LRM-5 RT 1 2.00
ammo(LRM)24 LT 1 1.00
2 Machine Guns RA 2 1.00
ammo(MG)100 RT 1 .50
Small Laser RA 1 .50
Small Laser LA 1 .50
ASF 125 Fusion Rocket * * 4.00
Fuel * * 2.00
Avionics - - .00
Landing Gear - - .00
-----------------------------------------------
TOTALS: 51 25.00
Crits & Tons Left: 27 .00
-----------------------------------------------
Conversion Equipment: Gyroscopic stabilization grants the pilot a TN-2 bonus to all aerospace control rolls, as long as the gyro is undamaged. Critical slots marked with an asterisk each act as a combined jump jet, ASF engine and fuel slot. Hits to foot actuators count as hits to landing gear. Hits to the gyro count as hits to avionics. Thrust and AirMech MP are calculated from the ASF Fusion Rocket rating. Jumping MP is equal to Walk or Thrust, whichever's lower.
The Hornet is one of the BattleDroids which got reimagined for the Wolf's Dragoons Sourcebook. It appeared in The Spider and the Wolf as a copy of the Mospeada Legioss (Robotech Alpha Fighter), to distinguish it from an allied Wasp and Stinger, and might have inspired the Dragoons variant Wasp from TR:3025. The BattleDroid figure looks like a cross between a Wasp and a Stinger, and the old House Liao: The Capellan Confederation book seems to use Hornet as a synonym for Stinger. I tried to write a history which reflects all this.
Backdating the Hornet let me tie in the original Chameleon art (I think I was told the attached pic is from BattleTech 2nd edition), and preserves the Hatchetman's place as the first new design in centuries. The 2980 downgrade ties into Tales of the Black Widow's claim about the Hoff team being first to fully redesign units in forty years; serendipitously, the loss of LAM production would also add impetus to developing the Super Griffin.
I made the LAM's components almost identical to those on the HNT-151. Just pull the conversion gear and arms, add barrel torso. Surprisingly, the LRM and ammo were in opposite sides--might be a typo, but I've preserved it as a sign of the LAM's contorted innards. For maintenance I looked at costs for 30 and 50-ton LAMs in the Mercenary's Handbook.
The Duan Gung looks like a Hornet with arms and a cowl stuck on. Cockpit, waist and LRM tubes all in the same spots.
I tried for variety with the battles and pilots. The 1st edition RPG describes Hoff differently than all other sources, so I made it a second planet. Nuclear Hornets were inspired by TR:3085's 5-ton bomb bay and a passing reference /BTG/ made to Independence Day. Finally, I would've specified which unit Fred is with, except I couldn't decide where exactly to put Fredonia.
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Topic: 25-ton HNT-207 Hornet LAM (for an alternate Jihad) (Read 724 times)