Spitballing to try and make a viable Blazer Warhammer. Against Clan opponents, it really needs 5/8 movement or more in order to get within its 15 inch brawling range -- I chose to go with TSM instead of MASC, both because it fits into the crit space without eating tonnage, and also because it fits Nimakachi's flufff, trying to do as much of a cash grab as possible during the Clan Invasion period and immediate aftermath.
Type: WHM-7N Warhammer
Production: Free Worlds League (Nimakachi Fusion Products Ltd, Tematagi)
Combat Value: 1750 BV
Total Cost: 14,625,874 C-Bills (including x1.7 tonnage premium)
Internal Structure (std): 7t
Engine: VOX 280XL: 8t
Walking: 4(5)
Running: 6(8 )
Heat Sinks: 17(34): 7t
Gyro/Cockpit (std): 6t
Armor Factor (Std): 13.5t (216 pips)
Head 3/9
Center Torso 22/34/10
R/L Torso 15/22/8
R/L Arm 11/22
R/L Leg 15/29
Quirks: Rugged (2), Searchlight, Stable, Ubiquitous
2x Binary Lasers (8cr, 18t) RA/LA
3x LRM-5 (3cr, 6t) RT
2x Ammo (LRM) 48 (2cr, 2t) RT
1x CASE (1cr, 0.5t) RT
2x Medium Lasers (2cr, 2t) CT
6x Triple-Strength Myomer (6cr) RA/2RL/2LL/LA
Although a number of Free Worlds League manufacturers produce the venerable and respected Warhammer, it was Ronin Incorporated, barely more than a refit facility with an assembly line, that produced the first lostech-upgraded Warhammer in the League. In part, this was because Nimakachi Fusion Products Ltd, the League’s major Warhammer producer through the Succession Wars, was in significant financial straits and had been forced to mothball their Warhammer lines shortly before the start of the Fourth Succession War.
However, the advent of the Clan Invasion revived the nearly bankrupt armament firm’s fortunes, as they began selling large numbers of their speedy Spider scouts to both the desparate Commonwealth and Combine militaries. Their turnaround was complete by 3052, with the venerable firm producing a popular lostech upgrade of the Spider, the Venom, and putting their Warhammer lines back into use. However, the executive board was unwilling to license the Ronin WHM-7M design, and pressured the in-house design team to produce a distinctive Nimakachi-specific variant that would be both highly attractive to their Combine and Commonwealth customers, while also incorporating as many recovered technologies as possible, in order to expand the firm’s design portfolio (and, by concidence, jack up the procurement costs of the new variant – and the related profit margins!).
The initial production run, which hit the market at the start of 3053, was immediately snapped up by the Combine, as was the second production run. The Combine and Commonwealth have both split the anticipated third and fourth production runs, and Nimakachi has already begun plans to expand their product line even further on the back of these returns, looking to expand into the Medium ‘Mech market (this would lead to the creation of the Bishamon, ultimately released in 3060).
The WHM-7N (for ‘Nimakachi’, as the design is not expected to be House-specific) retains the classic Warhammer silhouette, with energy weapons in the arms, missile weapons in the right torso, and backup short-range weapons in the torsos as well. However, in place of the PPCs of the classic Warhammer, the 7N equips a pair of Tronel Double-X Binary Lasers, a Nimakachi mash-up of two Star League era large laser cores (the Tronel III, which has not been manufactured in the Inner Sphere since the 2600s, replaced by more reliable and efficient large laser designs). The resulting design is wrapped in a surprisingly sturdy sleeve, as Nimakachi assumed that Mechwarriors would wish to use the armored barrels of the Tronel XX as bludgeons in melee combat. Seventeen double heat sinks help mitigate the tremendous waste heat of the blazers, with two directly venting off the blazers in each arm, and four more wrapped around the bulky VOX 280 XL engine, already being produced in large numbers for their popular Venom heavy scout ‘Mech.
Given the modest range of the Blazers, the 7N mounts three Shigunga Type “D” LRM5 launchers in place of the Holly SRM-6 of the classic Warhammer. The fifteen missile racks – purchased from Luthien Armor Works – provide a credible long-range punch, and are fed by two tons of CASE-protected ammunition. Two Tronel II medium lasers – mounted centerline on the center torso – provide additional short-range firepower at the cost of a sizable heat spike. Given how ‘hot’ this ‘Mech can run, its final major innovation (albeit a rather pricey one) is a full set of Triple-Strength Myomers, produced under license from Cosby Battlemech (and Myomer Research) of Vega. When over-heated, a condition that the 7N can easily manage within a few seconds, the ‘Mech can reach heavy cavalry speeds of 86kph, ideal for flanking and closing to its optimal ranges. It can strike harder than an Atlas in melee brawls, although this is expressly discouraged in official Nimakachi sales literature.
