Type: QKD-6K Quickdraw “Iaijutsu”
Production: Draconis Combine (Luthien Armor Works, Luthien)
Combat Value: 1456 BV
Total Cost: 7,541,760 C-Bills (including x1.6 tonnage premium)
EQUIPMENT
Tonnage: 60
Internal (Standard): 6t
Engine: Vlar 300: 19
Walking: 5 (6)
Running: 8 (9)
Jumping: 5 :5t
Heat Sinks: 10 Singles: 0t
Gyro (Standard): 3t
Cockpit (Standard): 3t
Armor (Ferro): 11.5t
Head: 3/9
Center Torso: 20/30/10
R/L Torso: 14/20/8
R/L Arm: 10/20
R/L Leg: 14/28
Quirks: Hyper-Extending Actuators, Exposed Actuators
WEAPONS INVENTORY (12.5t)
1x Hatchet (4cr, 4t) RA
– Triple-Strength Myomer (6cr), 3RT/3LT
1x Guardian ECM Suite (2cr, 1.5t), RT
1x C3 Slave (1cr, 1t) H
4x Medium Lasers (4cr, 4t), 2RT/2LT
2x Small Laser (2cr, 1t), LA
1x Flamer (1cr, 1t) CT
As part of the response to the Clan Invasion, the Draconis Combine’s weapons manufacturers were sent scrambling for an edge – any edge – against the superior technology of the Clans. One of the very few innovations pioneered by the Combine was their C3 Network – and Luthien Armor Works put their most out-of-the-box thinkers into a skunk work to develop as many potential uses for the C3 system as possible.
The engineers of Skunk work Team “Raiden” coupled the Combine’s C3 systems with gifted (and/or reverse-engineered) Federated Commonwealth technology, melded to one of LAW’s already-existing, and somewhat underwhelming, production lines: the Quickdraw-5K, a medium-laser-heavy design packed to the gills with (at the time scarce) double heat-sinks and covered with “Durallex Super Medium” branded Ferro-Fibrous armor, shipped in from Independence Weaponry on Quentin.
The prototype initially produced by the Quickdraw-6K featured a Vlar 300XL engine, imported (once again) from Independence Weaponry on Quentin – that firm having over-produced engines for their Atlas upgrade that had suffered numerous shakedown delays during the hectic early days of the Invasion – but substituted the “Durallex Super Medium” for a prototype “Extra Super Dura-ferrite” hardened armor, a near replica of the designs being tested by the Federated Commonwealth. Over 40% of the weight of the prototype was allocated to the heavy armored carapace, giving the 6K unmatched protection on the battlefield, exceeding by a third the effective armor of even the legendary Atlas. Although the prototype “ESD” hardened armor severely hampered the mobility of the 6K and limited its acceleration and top speed, but the QKD chassis was chosen by the design team precisely because of its highly articulated actuators – the hope was that the Quickdraw’s inherent limberness would help offset the stiffness and sluggishness that a heavy layer of Hardened Armor would impose. Unfortunately, the multiple layers of armor resulted in heavy spalling near every actuator, with the armor turning brittle very quickly, requiring either constant maintenance and replacement, or risking the unexpected loss of entire facings of protection with a single enemy attack.
As a result, LAW senior designers tabled the Hardened Armor concept, instead relying on an over-abundance of the Durallex Super Medium, which they were planning on starting to produce in-house on Luthien anyway. Without the need for additional free weight for the prototype "ESD", the engine was left a standard Vlar 300 fusion, which was not only cheaper than the Extralight version and manufactured in-house, but also offered far greater battlefield durability over the bulky Inner Sphere extra-light engines.
The 86kph top speed of the 'Mech (comparable to Clan 'cavalry' heavies) is central to its core mission: to get its C3 node into point-blank range with the enemy as quickly as possible, and its Chilton 460 jumpjets give it excellent mobility over broken and dense terrain. Once there, the maxed-out armor shell gives the Quickdraw solid staying power. And, to protect the integrity of the C3 system against the occasional Clan ECM system, as well as to potentially disrupt Clan C&C, the Quickdraw is fitted with an in-house “Sipher Commsys” brand communications system with integrated Guardian ECM Suite.
In keeping with the 6K’s close-in mission, the ‘Mech carries no long-range weapons at all, trading out ammunition-dependent (and explosion-prone) missile racks for more lasers, a very Kuritan philosophy. A brace of in-house “Victory” brand medium and small lasers give the 6K a nasty short-to-mid range punch, a flamer gives it a modicum of anti-infantry capability, as well as the ability to create its own 'cover' in urban or dense environments, and the ‘Mech is deliberately designed with single heat sinks, in recognition of the Combine’s massive shortage of double heat sinks in the years immediately after the Clan Invasion. In fact, suggested OP is to ‘turn off’ one or two of the ten integral sinks, the faster to activate (and maintain) the heat-sensitive Triple-Strength Myomer bundles, another Federated Commonwealth innovation that helps increase the closing speed of the design, and the first Combine ‘Mech to be so out-fitted. To take advantage of yet another Inner Sphere innovation, the design team added a close-combat weapon; a heavy four-ton hatchet, echoing the fearsome Hatchetman that had terrorized Combine units for the prior few decades – representing one final Inner Sphere advantage over their Clan opponents.
LAW conceptual artists found fertile ground to add stylized samurai motifs to the excessive quantities of Ferro-Fibrous armor, adding sode-style spaulders to protect the shoulder actuators, kote-style gauntlets to reinforce the hand and wrist actuators for combat, and a redesigned kabuto-style helmet. The brutally functional hatchet was shaped like a broad-leafed Japanese-style masakari axe, a sly dig at Clan Smoke Jaguar and their distinctive assault ‘Mech that had caused so much devastation among DCMS forces.
Intended primarily for heavy C3 companies, the Quickdraw-6K saw limited but steady production throughout the 3050s, with its speed, mobility, solid armor, and brutal melee ability endearing it to many Combine pilots. With its Japanese iconography, the Quickdraw-6K was frequently nicknamed the “Iaijutsu” (for a classical pre-spaceflight quick-draw technique), but traditionalists complained that a true Samurai ‘Mech would be quick-drawing a sword, not a peasant farmer’s hatchet. When Cosby Battlemechs released their competitor 70-ton No-Dachi in 3058, complete with a TSM-powered ‘Mech sword, LAW bowed to pressure and offered their own a katana-stylized variant (assigned the 7K designation) a few years later. Ever-responsive to procurement fads, LAW also began offering field upgrades to DCMS units that wanted to equip ER medium and ER small lasers on their Quickdraw 6K or 7K, shortly before the start of the Jihad. It was part of a kit that also allowed a ‘Mechbay upgrade of the engine-integral single heat sinks to double-strength freezers – allowing even faster ‘heat-up’ of the Triple-Strength Myomers with one or more of the double heat sinks turned off, but also making for an incredibly cool-running ‘Mech at full dump, short of a full alpha combined with jumpjets.
Note that LAW engineers eventually did solve the Hardened Armor's spalling issue during the Jihad, developing a flexible, super low-friction coating which was applied after fabrication -- they began producing the Hardened Armor Quickdraw (designated the 9K) in the 3080s, as well as a upgrade kit, and as a result the 9K quickly became the preferred variant, seeing widespread use in C3 companies. Combined with the Mace-armed variant (styled in the form of a massive Japanese tetsubo) that was released at the same time, the new Hardened Armor variant was heavily marketed under the designation “Benkei”, named for a legendary nigh-unkillable warrior-priest from Japanese folklore.
Decades later, in the Republic era, the continued success of their hardened-armor melee ‘Mech inspired a new generation of LAW engineers to design the 35t Rokurokubi and 75t Shiro in 3135 as home-grown complements to their venerable Quickdraw design.
