Overview
What is a planned economy? What are its cons and pros?
Whereas some would link it to some states that “died†a long time ago on Earth, a perfect example is right under our eyes: the Capellan Confederation and we can see there both the advantages and disadvantages of such a system.
This state has always displayed for several reasons a strong tendency to decide how investment or production took place, going as far as to decide how much and which capital goods had to be produced. Among the reasons that will be expanded upon later in this book (see chapter 4.2 Adaptation of states to economic problems), you can find a deep recession following the Reunification Wars, a lack of heavy industrial basis after the first Succession Wars, the need to focus every available resources on defence matters, the might of House Liao…
Sometimes the results were completely incoherent (just see the old nail joke in House Liao Book, published by ComStar Archives in 3024) but sometimes the process had interesting results, such as the creation of the Vindicator or of the new UrbanMech at the end of the 3040s-beginning of the 3050s.
The Capellan Confederation had been nearly destroyed by the 4th Succession War and even if the Andurien Crisis showed the mettle of the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces, the War of 3039 showed also that the Capellan Confederation could not stand against the might of the former Armed Forces of the Federated Suns.
One of the biggest results (even if It still is carefully hidden from the Capellans themselves) was the complete disorganisation of the production on several worlds, among them Grand Base or Betelgeuse, where state-of-the-art Cataphracts were produced.
To allow for a quick recovery, Romano Liao ordered that all units were to be stripped of any advanced items that could be used on the production of this Heavy ‘Mech, going as far as diverting whole production runs fresh from the factory. This complex move resulted in lots of units of the CCAF being left without real advanced weapons in case of an attack.
This is when Hellespont Industrials came to see Chancelor Romano Liao, giving her willingly the LB 10-X used in the UrbanMech in exchange for “considering favourably the reopening of the Betelgeuse factoryâ€, which had been closed after the Andurien Crisis while agreeing to provide the Capellan Confederation with a better and improved ‘Mech.
According to some unofficial papers released well after that time, Alana Morgain, the CEO, knew that she was playing a dangerous game with her head being on the forefront but she had a clever trick in her sleeve.
From Economy and the State, an introduction by NAIS Press Limited, 3060 – Textbook for the NAIS College of Finance
Capabilities
From afar, the UM-R63L looks exactly like a classical UrbanMech: a box with legs. However, appearances can be misleading as this new version is fully upgraded, even if some of the solutions used just show how desperate the Capellan Confederation was at that time.
For example, the speed was increased by 50% thanks to the use of a DAV 90 instead of the usual Leenex 60. However, since there was no clear military production for this DAV engines, one can only assume that they were taken from civilian buildings, stripping them of energy for the good of the Confederation. One can only imagine the sacrifices made by these civilians for the survival of House Liao (or so they were likely told). A third JumpJet was added to improve the mobility of the UrbanMech in cities.
While reconditioning the DAV engines (as explained in the class on Fusion Engines of 3rd semester, to bring a civilian engine up to military standards, some small and rather basic changes are needed to improve the stability of the energy output)), Hellespont Industrials exchanged the internal Heat Sinks for Double ones, improving the overall efficiency of the cooling system by more than 80% while freeing one ton for something else.
The selection of weapons while perfect for urban settings and against small threads (the core of the day-to-day business for an UrbanMech) are more limited in terms of range, which in most cities shouldn’t be a problem. A Large Pulse Laser is at the core of its firepower supported by a Medium Pulse one to deal with infantry and a standard Medium Laser to give it more range against most targets. All these weapons are left-overs either of former production sites (the Medium Lasers coming from Kajuka Aerospace Division, which found in this deal with Hellespont Industries a way to drop their supplies of Lasers after the loss of all the production sites of the Cheetah) or from projects without a market (like the Large Pulse Laser produced by Saroyan Special Projects on Sian).
To help deal with the specifications of fighting in the specific environment that is a city, two tried and trusted systems were added. The willingness to use a Guardian ECM and a Beagle Active Probe by Hellespont Industries can be traced back to their successful use on the Raven, a hit of the Sian based company. Both systems are predicted to provide an edge in urban settings and against all kinds of enemies by at the same time shielding the UrbanMech from hostile electronic devices and allowing it to detect hidden opponents.
To make room for these two systems, Hellespont Industries had to use their own Ferro-Fibrous Armour to free some weight while lightly improving the protection.
From UrbanMechs, folly or efficient tools?, a 3060 mid-term paper from the NAIS College of Engineering published in Collection of papers from the class of 3061 – NAIS Press Limited, 3062
Battle History
In spite of what one might think, being assigned to the borders between the Periphery and an Inner Sphere power has never been troublesome. Take Kincade's Rangers during their time there, they had to deal with rebels, dissidents, pirates… but no fight was harder than the raid of Renow where their 2nd Battalion had to deal with a traitorous attack by rogue elements from the Magistracy Armed Forces trying to get back their commanding officer that had been seduced by the scion of a Capellan family.
With a single Lance of UR-630L supported by armour and infantry, the brave Kincade’s Rangers managed to play hide and seek among the buildings of the local town, engaging the heavier enemy unit with precise fire before getting back in the shadows, leaving untouched the buidlings.
From the script of the Golden Scorpion, an episode of the CCAF best of the best, show ran by the Capellan Broadcast Services in 3053
This is obviously a romanticized version of what happened on Renow. Kincade’s Rangers had to repel a reconnaissance in force by elements of the Magistracy of Canopus Armed Forces and civilians like the buildings suffered from the fight in the few towns of Renow.
I would recommend using footages of the fight at Fort Lyons on Carver V. Even if the fight was against a Marik unit and the ‘Mechs displayed by the then Capellan forces were classical UM-R60, Lothar’s Fusilliers shots were more precise. However because of their unacceptable act in the 4th Succession War, I would recommend taking only footages where the Capellan forces can’t be identified.
From the report of the Chancellor’s Voice on the Golden Scorpion episode of the CCAF best of the best
Variants
There was only an experimental variant of the new UrbanMech, one that managed to increase the firepower of the UR-630L through the use of a Binary Laser Canon and of a Small Pulse Laser. In spite of the extra range and damage done, the lack of precision of this weapon made the UR-631L something of a dead end, even if some might be used shall the Capellan Confederation be in grave danger.
From UrbanMechs, folly or efficient tools?, a 3060 mid-term paper from the NAIS College of Engineering published in Collection of papers from the class of 3061 – NAIS Press Limited, 3062
Deployment
The best part of the UM-R630L is that all these changes can be done during a regular maintenance trip with no need for a complex factory retrofit. The only limitation to the number of UM-R630L being deployed is the capacity to find DAV 90 engines.
From UrbanMechs, folly or efficient tools?, a 3060 mid-term paper from the NAIS College of Engineering published in Collection of papers from the class of 3061 – NAIS Press Limited, 3062
Notable ‘MechWarriors
Georg Borislav is a member of the Zelazny Stables that shined in the previous 2 seasons with his UR-631L In long battles, he is known for his ability to switch from one set of weapons to another much to the surprise of his opponents, a practice that is obviously linked to the presence of Jay Rivo as the senior tech of the Zelazny Stables.
From Who’s Who on Solaris VII Year 3053
UrbanMech UM-R630L
Mass: 30 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Tournament Legal
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-F-D-D
Production Year: 3050
Dry Cost: 2 328 300 C-Bills
Total Cost: 2 328 300 C-Bills
Battle Value: 790
Chassis: Republic-R Standard
Power Plant: DAV 90 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32,4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54,0 km/h
Jump Jets: Pitban 6000
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor: Hellespont Lite Ferro Fibrous Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Saroyan Special Projects/Selitex Cyclonic Large Pulse Laser
1 Kajuka Aerospace Division/Kajuka Type 2P Medium Pulse Laser
1 Kajuka Aerospace Division/Kajuka Type 2 Bright Blossom Medium Laser
1 Ceres Metals Industries/Apple Churchill Golden Shield Guardian ECM Suite
1 Hellespont Interrogator Beagle Active Probe
Manufacturer: Hellespont Industries
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Dalban Interact
Targeting and Tracking System: Dalban Urban
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 51 points 3,00
Engine: Fusion Engine 90 3,00
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 3 Standard
Jump Jet Locations: 1 CT, 1 LL, 1 RL 1,50
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0,00
Heat Sink Locations: 2 LT, 2 RT, 2 LA, 1 RA
Gyro: Standard 1,00
Cockpit: Standard 3,00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 98 5,50
Armor Locations: 1 CT, 4 LT, 4 RT, 1 LA, 4 RA
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 10 11
Center Torso (rear) 8
L/R Torso 7 9
L/R Torso (rear) 4
L/R Arm 5 10
L/R Leg 7 12
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium Laser HD 3 1 1,00
Beagle Active Probe RT 0 2 1,50
Guardian ECM Suite LT 0 2 1,50
Large Pulse Laser RA 10 2 7,00
Medium Pulse Laser LA 4 1 2,00
Free Critical Slots: 3
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 3 Points: 8
3j 3 3 0 0 1 0 Structure: 3
Special Abilities: ECM, PRB, RCN, ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA
UrbanMech UM-R631L
Mass: 30 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Chassis Config: Biped
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: Succession Wars
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-F-E-D
Production Year: 3050
Dry Cost: 2 251 600 C-Bills
Total Cost: 2 251 600 C-Bills
Battle Value: 816
Chassis: Republic-R Standard
Power Plant: DAV 90 Fusion Engine
Walking Speed: 32,4 km/h
Maximum Speed: 54,0 km/h
Jump Jets: Pitban 6000
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor: Hellespont Lite Ferro Fibrous Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Binary Laser Cannon
1 Kajuka Aerospace Division/Kajuka Type 1P Small Pulse Laser
1 Ceres Metals Industries/Apple Churchill Golden Shield Guardian ECM Suite
1 Hellespont Interrogator Beagle Active Probe
Manufacturer: Hellespont Industries
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications System: Dalban Interact
Targeting and Tracking System: Dalban Urban
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 51 points 3,00
Engine: Fusion Engine 90 3,00
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 3 Standard
Jump Jet Locations: 1 CT, 1 LL, 1 RL 1,50
Heat Sinks: Double Heat Sink 10(20) 0,00
Heat Sink Locations: 2 LT, 2 RT, 2 LA, 1 RA
Gyro: Standard 1,00
Cockpit: Standard 3,00
Actuators: L: SH+UA+LA R: SH+UA+LA
Armor: Ferro-Fibrous AV - 98 5,50
Armor Locations: 1 HD, 1 CT, 4 LT, 4 RT, 2 LA, 2 RA
Internal Armor
Structure Factor
Head 3 9
Center Torso 10 11
Center Torso (rear) 8
L/R Torso 7 9
L/R Torso (rear) 4
L/R Arm 5 10
L/R Leg 7 12
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Critical Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Beagle Active Probe RT 0 2 1,50
Guardian ECM Suite LT 0 2 1,50
Binary Laser Cannon RA 16 4 9,00
Small Pulse Laser LA 2 1 1,00
Free Critical Slots: 2
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 3 Points: 8
3j 2 2 0 0 1 0 Structure: 3
Special Abilities: ECM, PRB, RCN, ENE, SRCH, ES, SEAL, SOA