Going off this
Scout - speed and to a lesser extent electronics matter, firepower and protection really don't. Could be VTOL, Hover or even other motive types.
Light Tank - primarily this fills the role of something cheap that can be deployed in large numbers. I'm not sure any Clan would bother with this.
Fast Attack Tank - fast and hard-hitting, almost always hover. Armour is sacrificed The Epona basically has this covered.
Medium Tank - a balance between speed, firepower and armour. These are typically the backbone of a large armoured force, around the top of the medium and bottom of the heavy weight bracket.
Main Battle Tank - intended to slug it out with battlemechs, these compare well in firepower and protection but have to trade off speed to maintain that parity. Usually operate at the upper end of heavy or the lower end of assault tonnage. Usually tracked but not always.
Assault Tank - very heavily armed and armoured, these are used to assault or guard fixed locations and therefore need very little speed. They tend to turn into pill-boxes quite easily. Tracks are mandatory for survivability.
Weapon Carriers - neither fast nor well protected, these are all about throwing the maximum amount of firepower down-range. Tend to be larger for the needed tonnage.
I've a few thoughts on this.
Scout - The Shamash and Ashur definately fill out this role but because of their specialized nature they would probably be way down the totem pole for any new designs. Or perhaps because of it, they are. I don't know if the new ilKhan will 'suggest' that perhaps 2nd line Warriors be used, and if so, shove them in the scouts, their role is to locate the enemy and not fight them, perfect for Solhama or test downs.
Light Tank - We kind of have this with the Ares which is light, armoured at best with baking foil or a tin pan where its thickest, but has a fairly notable slap. you've also got the Zorya and Mithras although these are far more second line than the Ares. I can see these being moderately popular, cheap to produce and armed enough to let someone know they've been hit, a nice filler for PGC forces.
Fast Attack Tank - Epona for sure, there's also the later
http://www.sarna.net/wiki/Hephaestus which would fill this out nicely, especially if you pulled out the infantry bay.
Medium Tank - The Clans are basically lacking a medium striker like tank until the Enyo comes along and this is one area that could be seen as a gap needing to be filled. The Ku’s too slow, the Hachiman’s a Weapons carrier more than a tank and is a support vehicle. The Oro is also too slow and too inflexible due to its wildly varying weapon ranges and its terrifyingly thin hide. So the ‘medium tank’ area could be one for exploration and I think might be seen as the best form of a compromise candidate between the Clans who go REEEEEEEE!!! At the sheer thought of vehicles and those who see their utility. And a medium vehicle wouldn’t consume the resources of a heavy or assault.
Main Battle Tank – Again an area the Clans generally lack. The Oro’s more a defensive unit although how its meant to act as an AA gun with that short range LB-20 is beyond me. And its not really until we get later things like the Axel IIC or Morrigu that the Clans get something like a real MBT. Again, this I can see being a bit more popular but far rarer than Medium strike tanks.
Assault Tank – Whilst the Clans have the Mars and its got enough firepower to make an assault dropship sit up and take notice, we know its not very common and only the Horses make them. Assault tanks I think would be passed over by Quicksilver as they consume a large amount of resources, and take up valuable space in DropShips and are full of mobility limitations. Maybe the Horses make an upgrade of the Mars but otherwise I’d say that to avoid a potential political hot potato the ilKhan does not authorize an assault tank under the Quicksilver program. But perhaps he also does not specifically BAN one being built, so this could mean the Horses make a 95 ton tank or something for themselves etc.
Weapon Carriers – We’ve already got two, the Athena and Huey, but both are really quite complex vehicles but I can see the Clans actually favouring a weapon carrier like vehicle. Cheap to make and heavily armed if they have the firepower to delete a target or two then they’ve probably made their money back. They’d almost certinally be a defensive unit though but this might be seen as a positive because during the period of rebuilding, the Invader Clans need defensive units to bolster their PGC’s to defend against the near constant raiding that was going on in the period following Tukkayid.
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Topic: A Proposal for a Quicksilver OmniVehicle (Read 51600 times)