I get the appeal of throwing both your C3M systems into a single heavily armored ‘Mech, but it also makes your C3 network extremely vulnerable to a head-hunting attack. So instead, I prefer more distributed systems, where you spread the C3M masters around, by combining some of them with a C3 slave, as with this variant Battlemaster.
Type: BLR-3K Battlemaster
Production: Draconis Combine (Blankenburg Technologies refit, Soul)
Combat Value: 1860 BV
Total Cost: 11,589,510 C-Bills (including x1.85 tonnage premium)
Internal Struc (std): 8.5t
Engine: Strand 255: 13t
Walking: 3
Running: 5
Heat Sinks: 12(24): 2t
Gyro/Cockpit (std): 6t
Armor Factor (std): 16.5t (263-max pips)
Head 3/9
Center Torso 27/42/12
R/L Torso 18/28/8
R/L Arm 14/28
R/L Leg 18/36
Quirks: Command Mech, Rumble Seat, Weak Head Armor
2x PPCs (6cr, 14t) RA/LA
4x Medium Lasers (4cr, 4t) RT/LT
1x C3 Master (5cr, 5t) RT
1x C3 Slave (1cr, 1t) H
1x LB10-X (6cr, 11t) LT
2x Ammo (LBX) 20 (2cr, 2t) LT
1x CASE (1cr, 0.5t) LT
1x Guardian ECM (2cr, 1.5t) CT
When Primus Myndo Waterly “transferred” the old Blankenburg Technologies facility on Soul to Combine control, shortly after the War of 3033, what the Dragon found was a wealth of lostech weapons, schematics, and also ‘Mechs, in the form of old Star League era Crocketts. Independence Weaponries,w hich “leased” the facility from 3035 onward, quickly put the old design into production, renamed as the Katana, but also realized that the Crockett design – intended as an Assault Trainer for used by the SLDF – was very consciously modeled after the Battlemaster Command ‘Mech. In fact, Independence engineers were able to confirm that the components for the Crockett (and thus Katana) were over 90% compatible with the Battlemaster design.
Independence Weaponries, and the Combine, very quickly began diverting funding to the remote Soul facility to begin production of a House Kurita controlled Battlemaster line. By the time of the Clan Invasion, full-scale production had not yet begun, but Blankenburg Technologies on Soul had sufficient capability to operate as a ‘Mech refit facility – and given its distance from the Clan front lines, this made the location invaluable both during the Invasion, and in the frantic rebuilding years following the Peace at Tukayyid.
As of 3053, the Soul facility lacks the capability for full-scale production of new Battlemasters, but it has spent several years upgrading the DCMS’s existing Battlemasters, and upgrading new ‘Mech frames purchased stripped (without armaments or armor) from both the Federated Commonwealth and the Free Worlds League. The updated Battlemasters bear a striking resemblence to the Katanas and Crocketts that continue to be produced on-site, but ship in C3 systems from Tanadi Computers of Hachiman, incorporating the Battlemaster’s legendary command capabilities with the Combine’s prized C3 networking capability.
The redesignated BLR-3K builds off a standard chassis, either the classic Hollis Mark X of older models, or a rebuilt chassis (common for Battlemaster frames that arrive on Soul with extensive damage) that utilizes the Katana’s Geometric 530 Hardcore structure. Blankenburg typically repairs and replaces the myomer bundles interlaced with the chassis with fresh components, then fits a Strand 255 fusion engine into the cavernous torso of the 85-ton behemoth. Older and glitchy electronics systems are simply stripped out and replaced with fresh GRPNTR Groundpainter 5 comms and Scope 30 RNDST targeting, with a rigorous testing process ensuring high-quality and reliable systems and interfaces – crucial given the incorporation of a C3 slave system fitting just to the rear of the cockpit, and a massive C3M master control system placed beside the fusion engine in the right torso of the ‘Mech. Given the continued expense and rarity of C3M systems, DCMS strategists proposed creating a distributed network, rather than concentrating a pair of these systems (and the core of a C3 network) into any single, easily targeted machine.
Blankenburg then covers the ‘Mech with a full sixteen-and-a-half tons of CarboStrand 30-Weight AS Standard-grade ‘Mech Armor, providing the BLR-3K (and crucially, its C3 system) with the maximum armored protection for its weight. Although the Dragon still faces a critical shortfall of double heat sinks, their C3 nodes are given priority, and the 3K carries two of these precious ‘freezers’ in its side torso (as well as the standard set of ten fitted into its fusion engine). A Guardian ECM system, also provided by Tanadi Computers, is nestled in its center torso, helping to protect the C3 network from enemy counter-measures.
Even with all these priorities, the 3K still has sufficient tonnage for an array of formidable weapons, allowing it to contribute meaningfully on the battlefield. It carries a pair of Lord’s Light PPCs, taken from the Combine’s massive surplus of such weapons (particularly after its signature Panther light ‘Mechs were upgraded to use ERPPCs), mounted to each forearm of the massive ‘Mech, and keeping its hands free. A Blankenburg LB 10X autocannon, produced locally for the Katana, is mounted in the left torso of the 3K, located where the classic Battlemaster typically fits an SRM rack, and it is fed by 2 tons of ammunition with integrated CASE protection. Finally, the ‘Mech retains its four forward-facing medium lasers, most commonly using Victory 23R lasers from Marduk (and widely available in the Combine), but also importing a number of Diverse Optics Type 2 lasers from Lushann, in the neighboring Outworlds Alliance.
Although the reduction in top speed means that this upgrade Battlemaster is less effective as a brawler, compared to its previous incarnations, the current leadership of the DCMS is firmly of the belief that its C3 system nodes should not be engaged in close-range firefights, and should instead be stand-off fire support ‘Mechs. The ongoing development of similar long-ranged C3 Master nodes (such as the Naginata and Hatamoto-Hi-CM) suggests that this is becoming standard doctrine in the Combine, despite countervailing pressure from those with a more ‘samurai’ mentality.
