Sorry I missed this one; I have been offline for the past two weeks. But here is a look at my take on a Taurian Warhammer!
WHM-6T Warhammer
One of the favorite heavy-weight BattleMechs of the Taurian Defense Force, the Warhammer nonetheless has its flaws. First, its armor is rather light for its weight class; second, the design lacks enough heat sinks to utilize its impressive firepower to the fullest extent.
In the early years of the 31st Century, the TDF--in conjunction with Taurus Territorial Industries and Vandenberg Mechanized Industries--began a project to refit and overhaul existing Warhammers and create a new Taurian variant for full scale production.
This effort resulted in the WHM-6T in early 3023. Field testing showed the effectiveness of the new design and the -6T model was in full production on Taurus and Pinard by 3025.
The design teams removed five heat sinks allowing for an increase in armor protection to 13.5 tons of standard armor plating. Additionally, one Donal PPC (left arm) was removed and the machine-gun ammunition was cut in half (to a half-ton for a total of 100 bursts of fire).
Replacing the Donal PPC was an Imperator-A AC-5 Autocannon along with a ton of ammunition (for a total of 20 bursts of fire). All other weapon systems were retained intact.
While the substitution of the AC-5 for the PPC cut the amount of long-range damage the new Warhammer could deliver by a quarter, it also reduced the strain on the heat sinks. At long-range, the WHM-6T could run and gun with both the right arm PPC and left arm AC-5 while remaining heat neutral. In close, the entire short-range battery could be utilized while walking . . . adding the AC-5 resulted in only movement heat being generated as excess.
Although a compromise design, the WHM-6T proved itself as a capable and rugged BattleMech and was rapidly approved for full production on both Pinard and Taurus, not merely for domestic use, but also for export (although many mercenary purchasers still preferred to order the WHM-6R which remained in limited production).
Warhammer WHM-6T
Mass: 70 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-E-D-A
Production Year: 3025
Dry Cost: 5,938,383 C-Bills
Total Cost: 5,970,383 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,366
Chassis: StarCorps 100 Standard
Power Plant: VOX 280 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Leviathon Plus Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Donal PPC
1 Imperator-A Autocannon/5
1 Holly SRM-6
2 Martell Medium Lasers
2 Magna Small Lasers
2 SperryBrowning Machine Guns
Manufacturer: Vandenberg Mechanized Industries, Taurus Territorial Industries
Primary Factory: Pinard (VMI), Taurus (TTI)
Communications System: O/P 3000 COMSET
Targeting and Tracking System: O/P 1500 ARB
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 107 points 7.00
Engine: Fusion Engine 280 16.00
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 13 3.00
Heat Sink Locations: 1 LL, 1 RL
Gyro: Standard 3.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 216 13.50
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 22 32
Center Torso (rear) 11
L/R Torso 15 22
L/R Torso (rear) 8
L/R Arm 11 22
L/R Leg 15 30
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PPC RA 10 3 7.00
Autocannon/5 LA 1 4 8.00
Machine Gun RT 0 1 0.50
Small Laser RT 1 1 0.50
Medium Laser RT 3 1 1.00
SRM-6 RT 4 2 3.00
Machine Gun LT 0 1 0.50
Small Laser LT 1 1 0.50
Medium Laser LT 3 1 1.00
@AC/5 (20) LA - 1 1.00
@SRM-6 (15) RT - 1 1.00
@MG (1/2) (100) LT - 1 0.50
Free Critical Slots: 29
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 7 Points: 14
4 3 3 1 0 3 1 Structure: 6
Special Abilities: SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
WHM-7T Warhammer
As recovered Star League technology slowly became available, the TDF looked to upgrade its 'Mech forces. During the last years of the 3040's, they experimented with a number of design concepts that would make their 'Mech forces more effective on the battlefield. The WHM-7T Warhammer was one of those concepts.
Based on the WHM-6T, the WHM-7T once again reduced the heat sinks (to a mere eleven!), but replaced the remaining units with double-strength models, greatly improving heat dissipation capabilities. The Imperator-A AC-5 Autocannon was replaced with a newly developed Imperator Ultra AC-5 autocannon and the ammunition supply was doubled (to two tons, for 40 single bursts or 20 double taps).
CASE was added to both torsos and the 13.5 tons of standard armor was replaced with 12.0 tons of ferro-fibrous plating.
The Donal PPC, Holly SRM-6 rack, Martell Medium Lasers, and Magna Small Lasers were retained, but the Sperry Browning Machine-Guns (and their ammunition) were removed and replaced with a pair of Magna 200P Small Pulse Lasers. While anti-personnel effectiveness was slightly decreased, overall damage capacity was increased and the new weapons were far more accurate across their range.
This new upgraded variant was very well received; the heat management was excellent, the ammunition supply ample, the armor protection superb. Even the damage capacity had once again reached the level of the WHM-6R (and, in point of fact, surpassed it!).
The WHM-7T entered full-scale production in 3053, replacing the WHM-6T lines completely. The TDF still produces a limited number (less than two dozen) WHM-6R models each year for export, but it is expected that these production lines will soon be converted to the WHM-7T as well.
A proposed upgrade involves acquiring the design schematics for the Extended-Range PPC (possibly from House Marik) and replacing the Donal PPC with this longer-ranged version. However, the added heat generated has caused many ranking officers in the TDF to balk at the idea. Furthermore, until a facility to produce this weapon at home has been constructed or converted, it would require that the TDF import these weapons . . . NOT something that any Taurian officer wishes to report to Protector Thomas.
Warhammer WHM-7T
Mass: 70 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Clan Invasion
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-D-A
Production Year: 3070
Dry Cost: 6,553,783 C-Bills
Total Cost: 6,598,783 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,526
Chassis: StarCorps 100 Standard
Power Plant: VOX 280 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 43.2 km/h
Maximum Speed: 64.8 km/h
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: 0 meters
Armor: Leviathon Special Ferro-Fibrous w/ CASE
Armament:
1 Donal PPC
1 Imperator Ultra AC/5
1 Holly SRM-6
2 Martell Medium Lasers
2 Magna 200P Small Pulse Lasers
2 Magna Small Lasers
Manufacturer: Vandenberg Mechanized Industries, Taurus Territorial Industries
Primary Factory: Pinard (VMI), Taurus (TTI)
Communications System: O/P 3000 COMSET
Targeting and Tracking System: O/P 1500 ARB
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 107 points 7.00
Engine: Fusion Engine 280 16.00
Walking MP: 4
Running MP: 6
Jumping MP: 0
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 11(22) 1.00
Gyro: Standard 3.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 215 12.00
Armor Locations: 3 LT, 3 RT, 2 LA, 2 RA, 2 LL, 2 RL
CASE Locations: 1 LT, 1 RT 1.00
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 22 32
Center Torso (rear) 10
L/R Torso 15 22
L/R Torso (rear) 8
L/R Arm 11 22
L/R Leg 15 30
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
PPC RA 10 3 7.00
Ultra AC/5 LA 1 5 9.00
Small Laser RT 1 1 0.50
Medium Laser RT 3 1 1.00
SRM-6 RT 4 2 3.00
Small Pulse Laser RT 2 1 1.00
Small Laser LT 1 1 0.50
Medium Laser LT 3 1 1.00
Small Pulse Laser LT 2 1 1.00
@Ultra AC/5 (40) LA - 2 2.00
@SRM-6 (15) RT - 1 1.00
Free Critical Slots: 14
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 7 Points: 15
4 4 4 2 0 3 0 Structure: 6
Special Abilities: CASE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
