Leaning into the two major benefits of Mech Mortars over LRMs (because there aren't a lot) -- they're really cheap in terms of C-Bills and ammo, and they're really cheap in terms of BV. Otherwise, LRMs are better in almost every way, so it's a weapon that is best used by a minor power that is really, really skint.
Note that the 'mystery supplier' of high-tech double heat sinks mentioned below is, of course, the Word of Blake.
Type: CRD-5CF Crusader
Production: Circinus Federation (Black Warriors Refit, Circinus)
Combat Value: 1052 BV
Total Cost: 4,223,835 C-Bills + 60.5k ammo (including x1.65 tonnage premium)
Tonnage: 65t
Internal Structure (Std): 6.5t
Engine: Nissan/Industrial 195: 8t
Walking: 3
Running: 5
Heat Sinks: 11(22): 1t
Gyro/Cockpit (Std): 5t
Armor Factor (Std): 12t
Head 3/9
Center Torso 21/33/8
R/L Torso 15/23/7
R/L Arm 10/20
R/L Leg 15/21
Quirks: Easy to Maintain, Rugged (1), Stabilized Weapons (Legs), Ubiquitous
2x Mech Mortar 8 (10cr, 20t) RA/LA
6x Ammo (Mortar) 24 (6cr, 6t), 3RT/3LT
2x Machineguns (2cr, 1t) RA
1/2x Ammo (MG) 100 (1cr, 0.5t), RT
1x Flamer (1cr, 1t) LA
4x Medium Lasers (4cr, 4t) RL/LL
Throughout the Succession Wars, the Black Warriors – a former SLDF unit that went rogue during the Amaris Civil War – were on paper the official military force of the tiny Circinus Federation. However, they largely operated as both privateers and occasional condottiere rather than a traditional defense force, striking anonymously throughout the Free Worlds League periphery, and also hiring themselves out to the occasional Great House – as they did during the Fourth Succession War.
Part of their contract with the 42nd Avalon Hussars in 3028 included a clause wherein the Black Warriors would receive sizable quantities of surplus Lyran equipment and supplies – by the end of their contract in 3032, the Black Warriors had – through a mix of contractual payment, con-artistry, embezzlement, and outright theft, acquired sufficient military equipment to add two regiments to their number. As House Steiner was a heavy user of the Crusader, with a sizable surplus of older Crusader 3R designs, the Black Warriors ended up with a half-dozen of the versatile heavy ‘Mech, but President HR “Little Bob” McIntyre faced an immediate logistical problem – the four missile racks of the Crusader 3R chewed through expensive missiles very aggressively, limiting both the effectiveness of live-fire training, while also restricting the firepower of the Crusader on long-distance raids and mercenary contracts.
At the same time, the Crusader was an extremely valuable fire-support ‘Mech with a variety of useful close-range weapons, and no Black Warrior – least of all Colonel-President McIntyre – wanted to lose those capabilities by changing out to (for example) an all-energy weapon loadout. The solution was a typical “pirate” upgrade – using inexpensive and Retrotech equipment to sizably reduce the resupply costs, while retaining energy weapons and machine-guns, which were much more easily sourced, repaired, maintained, and resupplied. The redesignated CRD-5CF is officially a “field refit”, with a stock Crucis-B chassis and Riese 500 armor (or whatever resupplies the Federation and Black Warriors can acquire), but the sizable Magna 260 engine was replaced with a far more modest – and far less expensive – Nissan 195, a widely available industrial fusion engine that is commonly utilized in commercial and IndustrialMech applications throughout the Inner Sphere. This means that the 5CF also can use a 2-ton Gyroscope, far more readily sourced and widely available in the Periphery (for example, from a salvaged 20-ton “Bug” Mech) than its heavier 3-ton variant.
All the high-end military missile racks have been stripped from the 5CF, and a pair of massive 120mm, Mech-compatible class 8 vehicle Mortars – sourced through a variety of cut-outs from Cyclops Inc of Skye – are fitted into the shoulders and rear of the 5CF. With range and firepower comparable to an LRM-15 or 20, the so-called "Mech Mortars" also have the virtue of being far cheaper to maintain and supply with ammunition, and two generous three-ton ammunition bins can be found in both side torsos, reclaimed during the engine downgrade. The bins for the mortar shells are separated into smaller, distinct clips, allowing a creative artillerist to fire a variety of shells with a range of different uses and effects.
The 5CF retains the arm-mounted M100-Heavy machine-guns of the stock Crusader 3R, but fits both of them in the right-arm mount, one in the original position and the other in the Intek Medium Laser mount. A half-ton of ammunition in the right torso feeds both machine-guns. The left-arm weapon mounts now hold a single energy-linked Flamer for creating “instant” cover, or causing general mayhem and havoc – as the Black Warriors cheerfully refer to it, “War Crimes”. This is typically a spare Purity L-series from a Firestarter – although at least two 5CFs used by the Black Warriors used a Zippo Vehicular flamer, fed by a half-ton of ammunition fit into the empty housing for a medium laser. To round out the firepower, the 5CF mounts four medium lasers of various types, all fitted to the stabilized weapon-mounts on the hips of the Crusader.
In all, the only cutting-edge components fitted to the 5CF are its set of double heat sinks – and it is an on-going mystery to House intelligence organizations where and how the Federation acquired quite so many of these devices, which appear to have been refitted to nearly all of their ‘Mechs. For the 5CF, Black Warrior techs painstakingly fitted seven double heat-sinks into the Nissan 195 engine, and another four are externally mounted – two per side torso – on the main body of the ‘Mech. This gives the 5CF truly impressive heat-management for its extremely ‘hot’ class 8 Mortars, able to run cool even while raining mortar shells downfield in close support of its compatriots. Despite the abysmal leadership by McIntyre that resulted in a crushing defeat against the mercenary unit “Arms of Thor” in the Federation’s ill-fate invasion of the Illyrian Palatinate, the 5CF proved itself decisively, and has made frequent appearances in raids through the anti-Spinward Periphery.
