OBT Forum

Upon further review there does appear to be one design that is currently entered and makes a good case for a motive system that I had not previously included. When I was thinking about this contest originally I did have the idea of including three possible ground modes. Then the snow came....  All three ground movers are now allowable under the contest criteria. Sorry about that.

I would say again that designers should check their 80 ton entries. 

The Blood Spirits care not for your Shenanigans, they will build as they please and let someone else sell it to you!.

You are in the right mood 

I would say again that designers should check their 80 ton entries. 

The only thing I see with the Minerva is that it's a joint Wolf-Hells Horse project. Since it specifies Hells Horses will do full production, that should meet the criteria for which Clan produces it.

Very good Abele, now I am just waiting on last minute additions like Master Arminas fluff or anyone else who might like to join the fray. This contest will wrap up at midnight eastern time tonight which is about 16 hours away. 

Fluff is UP.

MA

First of all I would like to thank JPArbiter for getting this contest off the ground some two weeks ago. The extra week allowed any interested parties to have plenty of design time for their own Clan Weapon Carrier. During this fortnight I saw more snow than I would like to admit (and it is snowing again as I type this review) we got seven entires from four different designers. While we got all three vehicle motive types (Hover, Wheeled, & Tracked) allowed by this challenges sadly there were no ultralights. Admittedly this would have been difficult at best but interesting. Oh well lets see what we do have this time around.

7. Apollo (JPArbiter)
This Fire Mandrill “design developed by Blood Spirit has several glaring fluff problems starting with the fact that neither Clan is capable of manufacturing it. On top of that the Awesome IIC was not a failure and in fact will be a design in TRO 3054. Now it is possible that this entry could be a Diamond Shark product as I suggested but it would take a major rewrite of this 80 ton Tracked OmniVehicle. The popular and widely used 240 Fusion Engine (3/5) from the Awesome IIC would make an excellent power plant. I got no problem with it lacking a turret to maximize pod space (46.5 tons) and armor protection but only 4 tons of standard armor (60 factor)! Far too light (the lightest amount in this contest which includes a light vehicle) for such a large target even a weapon carrier maximizing pod space. Its six weapon configurations are the most weapon carrier faithful in my opinion but the Apollo (former Rim World capital and home planet of the Usurper) is clearly last place material.

6. Durga (drakensis)
This 95 ton Tracked monstrosity comes to us from the Ice Hellion Clan who sometimes uses slow moving vehicles to supplement its forces. Based on stockpiled SLDF Puma Assault Tanks I thought for sure someone would go with an Alacorn Weapon Carrier during this contest but this was the closest. Unfortunately your design contains a critical error in the 190 Fusion Engine (2/3) that powers it. Your fluff indicates that engines from the Ku (180 Fusion) would be used possibly under powering the design in tests hence Jade Falcon dropping it from orbit. Funny fluff btw. With 9.5 tons of ferro aluminum (182 factor) it does have adequate protection IMO. A one ton turret (10 ton capacity) does provide some added mobility to a few weapons but most of the 58.5 tons of pod space is fixed You had three excellent configurations including 185 Long Range Missiles in Prime, 4 Ultra Autocannon 10s in Alternate A, and 3 Arrow IV Artillery Systems in Alternate B. Additionally I would have like to have seen 3 ER PPCs with 35 additional heat sinks (53 tons) and 4 Gauss Rifles or LB-20X with 2 tons of ammunition each (56 tons). Unfortunately the Engine error as well as the fact that no 190 Fusion Engine appears to be in production accounts for this otherwise promising designs placement here.

5. Augustus (drakensis)
This 35 ton Wheeled entry from Diamond Shark was based on the Indra Infantry Transport. Like the Wasp IIC designers used vast supplies of 120 Fusion Engines (4/6) from the ubiquitous Wasp and Stinger BattleMechs to power this design. This is a very cost effective idea. With exactly one tenth of its mass reserved for armor, 3.5 tons of ferro fibrous (67 factor), it has effective protection. Without a turret that armor is further maximized but that leaves 20 tons of pod space which has to be directionally mounted. I had no problem with that but this design goes overboard on missiles. Six of its seven configurations are based on missiles with the other transporting infantry. I wanted a universal carrier that could deploy all types of weaponry. This could be accomplished for example - 5 Medium Pulse Lasers with 10 additional heat sinks, 5 ER Medium Lasers with 15 additional heat sinks, 1 Ultra AC/5 along with 2 Ultra AC/2s leaves 3 tons for ammo, or 1 LB-5X along with 2 LB-2Xs also leaves 3 tons for ammo are all quite possible. That would have given you 3 or 4 different angles other than LRM and SRM which were a little over done. Still this is another tempting idea for the future.

4. Crom (masterarminas)
This 65 ton Tracked Weapon Carrier produced by Diamond Shark and developed by the Goliath Scorpions was a great read. Fun with Conan and the Wolves perspective overrode any reservations I had about the Scorpions actually designing an OmniVehicle. Based on the SLDF Marksman this design uses a 260 Fusion Engine (4/6) from the Fire Scorpion to power it. Again 7 tons of ferro fibrous (134 factor) or about one tenth of the design’s overall mass is used to adequately protect it without going over board. A half ton turret (5 ton capacity) allows some of the Vehicle’s 24 tons of pod space to mounted in a 360 degree arc. Half of that space is reserved for 2 ER Medium Lasers and 2 Machine Guns which were integrally fitted to support the design. The 8 different configurations are some what mixed in nature with only about half qualifying as weapon carriers. These four - A (2 LB-10Xs), C (2 Ultra AC/10s), D (3 LRM 20s with Artemis), E (7 Streak SRM 6s) were well done and should have served as the basis for the design. Prime (Gauss and LRM 20) and B (Ultra AC/20 and 2 Streak SRM 6s) were more tank destroyers while the other 2 were Artillery (F with an Arrow and G with a Sniper) pieces. It is a little nitpicky I suppose but I would have led with the weapon carrier types and maybe closed with the tank destroyers. Good design though. Maybe Crom will be seen one day in action with the Clans after all.

3. Nyogtha (Abele)
Well I am Glad you caved in and decided to enter this cheap and effective 45 ton Tracked OmniVehicle by way of Clan Diamond Shark. While you and MA got a little whacky with the names there is no reason to think that fictional mythos like Cthulhu would not intermingle with some historic ones. Based on the Goblin Medium Tank which may have been available to the SLDF and the Clans this vehicle sits on the very upper edge of a 3 man crew requirement. Using a 180 Fusion Engine (4/6) produced for the Wyvern IIC this upgrade replaces the original ICE  which was far bulkier. With 7 tons of ferro fibrous (134 factor) this design has almost too much protection for a weapon carrier but remains with acceptable parameters. A 1.5 ton turret allows for 15 of the design’s 18 tons of pod space to be mounted in a wide ranging firing arc. Two integral Machine Guns mounted front and back also provide additional support against infantry. Nine different weapon configurations run the gambit on possibilities offered by this medium weight entry. Great job, very nicely done! Only two designs better.

2. Minerva (drakensis)
Quite possibly the ideal platform for this challenge is an 80 ton Tracked Heavy Weapon Carrier. Developed largely by the Wolves this design would be built by the Hell’s Horses upon completion. The name makes me think that this design would be some sort of up scaled Athena but there is not much info about that in the fluff. All that is said is that the 240 Fusion Engine (3/5) used to power the design comes from cached Manticore Tanks. That is a good choice for a power plant already in production by the Clans for the Griffin IIC, Glass Spider, Matador, and Battle Cobra to name a few. I would have liked have heard about a basis for the design such as the Star League Fury, Rhino, or maybe even the Schrek PPC Carrier. Six and a half tons of ferro fibrous (124 factor) along with no turret gives this OmniVehicle an acceptable level of protection. Forty four tons of pod space provides ample room for weapons and equipment. A total of 18 different configurations gave a wide swath of possible capabilities.  However I wish this design was a little more focused. Not bad drak but one design was better.

1. Bucephalus (JPArbiter)
This 50 ton Hovercraft based on the Epona was entered by the Hell’s Horses and in my opinion is the best of the bunch. Replacing the Epona’s 215 Fusion Engine with a 165 Fusion Engine (8/12) provides some extra mass (5.5 tons). But where did this engine come from? Well the designer does not say but the Tyre Aerospace Fighter does use that model power plant making such an endeavor quite possible. This makes it highly maneuverable especially when compared to its competitors in this challenge. With 6 tons of ferro fibrous (115 factor) it has more protection than its predecessor. Its turret has also been slightly enlarged to 1.5 tons allowing it to carry a large payload (15 ton capacity). With 20 tons of overall pod space for weapons and equipment there are plenty of options. The first four are true weapon carriers even though D (7 Medium Lasers) seems to be in error. Since there is no Configuration A we do have room for two energy configurations; 5 ER Medium Lasers or 5 Medium Pulse Lasers would both work. I like Prime (4 LRM 15s), B (10 SRM 6s), and C (2 LB-5Xs with a Targeting Computer). Configuration F (Arrow IV System) is the reason behind the whole development of the early design and it works quite well. Configurations E (Gauss Rifle linked to a Targeting Computer) and G (Ultra AC/20 and a Streak SRM 6) are straight up Hovertanks. All in all it is a very hard hitting, fast moving, well armored, and capable design whose close ties to the Epona will speed production. Congrats on the win JP!

Thanks again gang. Another great challenge has come and gone. I am writing the next one as we speak. Hopefully it won’t snow out!

Salutations, JP.