Combat Vehicle Technical Readout
Name/Model: Perun [BASE]
Designer: Thunder
Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology: Clan
Technology Rating: D
Tonnage: 30
Configuration: OmniVehicle
Era/Year: Dark Age / 3150
Rules (Current): Standard
Rules (Era): Standard
Rules (Year): Standard
Total Cost: 445,625 C-Bills
Battle Value: 269
Movement Type: Wheeled
Power Plant: 100 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
14 tons of pod space available
Manufacturer: Unknown
Primary Factory: Unknown
Communications: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking: Unknown
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Overview:
In only 35 years the clan war-machine wrecked itself. Early successes in the inner sphere
prompted the home clans to over extend their resources in an attempt to match the invading
clan's new found wealth in territory and resources. The practice of staging trials for
needed materials slowly began to escalate as resources became scarce. One example being a
trial between Clan Cloud Cobra and Clan Coyote over a star of newly produced battlemechs. A
Trinary of mechs were lost between both sides for the gain of only a Star. And then new
trials would be declared in an attempt to find the parts needed to repair damaged mechs.
This viscous cycle is the root cause of the wars of reaving.
One of the results of the lost of their manufacturing base was a need to be as efficient and
frugal as possible when building up new forces. Which is where the Perun comes in. A Light
Omnivehicle capable of covering the roles of a majority of older clan vehicles without
breaking the budget.
Capabilities:
Making their new light tank a wheeled vehicle strikes many an analyst as odd. But to be
fair it is a choice that works for the clans. A by product of their ritualized combat is
giving the defender the choice of location in which to fight.
By selecting an appropriate venue in which to fight, a wheeled vehicle is rarely
inconvenienced.
Alternatively if honorable combat is not offered it is more then likely that combat will be
occurring on the clan's grounds directly which implies cultivated lands and roads. Its this
rational that explains the wider use of wheeled vehicles of all sized within their toumans.
Its a choice that also helps in making the vehicle cheaper to produce and easier to operate.
The tendency for minimized costs follows through most of the design. A smaller
then average engine gives adequate mobility without even trying to match the
speed of higher end Clan vehicles. Though initially more expensive the use of
Fusion power eliminates a host of maintenance and refueling problems.
Defensively the Perun uses Standard plate armor, not offering the best
protection per ton, but costing less then half as much as more advanced armor
types. Six tons of armor are enough to allow the Perun to stand up to direct
fire briefly. Even the decision to make the Perun 30 tons rather then the more
typical 35 tons of Clan light tanks is intended to reduce the logistical tail
of a unit of these tanks by reducing crew needs by 33%.
Offensively, the Perun has 14 tons of Omnipod space. Astute observers may
notice that this weapons payload matches that of the Badb Omni-Vtol being used
in the Raven-Alliance. Also in line with the Badb is the method of naming
configurations. Prime for Energy weapon primary configurations, A for
Missiles, B for ballistic weapons, C for Cargo and equipment Configurations,
and D for configurations that focus on electronics. As per usual
configurations can very wildly and the "Official" variants should only be
considered as starting points from which to build off of.
For the Prime configurations the starting recommended point begins with an
ERPPC backed by twin LRM-5's. This weapons mix offers high hitting power and
excellent range. Variants of this concept usually will downgrade the main
energy mount in favor of larger missile racks. Large pulse lasers are
especially popular given the general lackluster training most crews receive.
The next variation within the prime range focus's on massed Medium weight
weapons. Once again pulse lasers are the preferred weapon for Clan crews. On
average 4 Medium Pulse lasers fill this role, though more affluent or desperate
units may find alternatives to this configuration. Insulated lasers or
captured Inner Sphere Medium lasers have all been seen at one time or another.
The A configurations missile based power are the rock on which most Perun based
formations are based. No other weapon in the clan arsenal can pack so much
Bang in such a small package. The first variation on the theme of missile
power is a SRM carrier. 6 SRM's provide a crushing volume of fire. Ammo is
somewhat limited offering only 5 Salvo's of fire. Though this may seem limited
its really more of a statement of a Perun's expected life span in close contact
with a presumably heavier foe. A volley of small lasers add to the missiles
power efficiently utilizing the Fusion engine's integral heat sinks.
The second missile based configuration is somewhat less efficient with the heat
sinks. A Heavy Medium laser serves as an adequate back up weapon to the twin
LRM-15's. A Quad of AP Gauss rifles tends to keep even the most fool hardy
infantry and other light units at bay. Assuming they're still installed.
Heavier launchers, more ammo, bigger secondary weapons, even a fairly decent
copy of the Ares has been seen. And of course there is a variant with an Arrow
IV, listed presumably to remind commanders that it is an option.
In the Ballistics section there tends to be a list of primary 10 ton guns. 2
tons of ammo and 2 spare ER Medium lasers mounted in the forward Demi-turret.
The most preferred gun is the Clan RAC-5, offering the highest rate of damage
output. Next up is the HAG-20, followed by the UAC-10, and finally the LB-10
as a last resort. Officially the HAG-20 is listed as the main gun, with
RAC-5's being rare still. In reality older UAC-10's seem to be relegated to
these second line forces with disturbing frequency.
A second alternative is the use of even larger Cannons. Nothing says "Die!" to
a light foe like encountering a UAC-20 where it wasn't expected. Even heavier
targets tend to respect, if respect means concentrate fire on, units carrying
UAC-20's. On the other hand, Gauss rifles and HAG-30's are almost never seen
as options. One is too easily matched by the Prime configuration's ERPPC. the
other is just too heavy to be really effective.
Another rarely seen configuration mounts Ten Medium Chemical Lasers. It may
seem like such a configuration is miss placed under the "Ballistics" heading,
the actual operating nature of Chemical lasers is much closer to that of
ballistic weapons rather then energy weapons for Vehicles. Other weapons also
appear in the B configurations. One of the early iterations of the Perun
mounted a LB-5x and a LRM-10 demonstrating it's ability to replace the Zorya
Light tank. This is also where the Perun's name comes from, Zorya being
closely associated with Perun in the pantheon of gods they come from.
Uncertainty abounds within the C configurations. The first recommended
configuration covers combat engineering duties, while the second is an Infantry
transport. Just to be efficient there is even a firetruck set of Omni
equipment so that the Perun can help in civilian duties. After all, combat is
rare. The need for Civil services is constant.
Though the C configurations are wildly varied, they also tend to be somewhat
mundane. Less so for D configurations. Using advanced electronics these
configurations tend to be rare, save for when Peruns are actually being used in
front line combat, Or perhaps a particularly affluent Star Colonel found some
spare gear for his vehicular forces.
First up is an ECM equipped "Battlefield Management" configuration. It's
practically a Prime configuration with some tweaks, but the use of ECM and the
targeting computer move it around in the current description scheme. The
"Battlefield management" portion of its job description comes from the ECM and
the extended ammo bins intended for Smoke rounds. Disrupting electronics, and
controlling line of sight to cover it's Star can help achieve miraculous things.
On the flip side is a "Scout" variant. Active probes, NARC, and even an ATM
with it's integral Artemis systems all place this configuration well within the
D category. Spare flamers, and a medium pulse laser help deal with the hidden
attackers and infantry which tend to be a scouts first and occasionally last
contact with the enemy.
The most common Unusual variant of the electronics configurations mounts an
Inner Sphere produced C3 master. Though Clan mechwarriors may disdain such
systems as dishonorable, their vehicle crews hardly agree. Freed from the
constraints of Zelbriggen and more accustomed to using teamwork to bring down
more powerful foes, integrating a Star as a C3 Network just makes sense. For a
full star a truncated Type 1 communications link is employed. a Central master
links 3 other masters, each of which controls 2 additional slaves for a total
of 10 units. Though rare for now, if such formations are sufficiently enhanced
to justify the cost, there is a possibility that the Clans just might apply
their superior technology to large scale C3 networks.
Variants:
Despite being relatively new, there is a major production level variation on
the Perun. Referred to as a Perun (T). A Slower tracked version of this tank
is otherwise identical to the more common wheeled chassis. Once again this
makes sense from a cost effectiveness standpoint. Reusing the hull allows a
streamlining of production, while the availability of a tracked version of the
tank allows them to be used in harsher terrain then they normally can handle.
Then there are armor upgrades. Though standard armor was chosen for it's low
price, some units have found the resources to upgrade their tanks.
Ferro-Fibrous armor upgrades are somewhat common, though the upgrade
occasionally forces a reworking of a tank's weapons configuration. If they can
find it, Ferro-Lamelor armor is of course the armor of choice. Most tanks will
never see such an upgrade though. The vast majority of Perun's produced are
spread through the Clan's second an third tier holdings, preforming the ever
important duty of holding ground, showing the flag, and promising to increase
the butcher's bill for any raider dumb enough to tangle with them on their own ground.
Notable MechWarriors:
Additional notes:
Not 100% sure where this design came from. I decided the clans needed a cheap
vehicle to fill up their territory with. I decided on 30 tons as an optimized
tonnage without needing that 3rd crewmen. As usual the balancing act of
weapons, armor, and mobility took agonizing hours of indecision to resolve.
Eventually though I decided that the tank had to have 14 tons of pod space to
match one of my other Clan Omni vehicles the Badb. I find it amusing when
different omni units can cross swap configurations. (Kit fox, Adder, Nova...
16 tons of pod space. It gets hilarious when you put 12 ERMedium laser on the
Kit fox...) The next major decision was to make it wheeled, for reasons which
are explained in the fluff. Admittedly those reasons showed while I was
writing said fluff...
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Equipment Mass
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Internal Structure: Standard 3.00
Engine: 100 Fusion 4.50
Cruising MP: 4
Flanking MP: 6
Heat Sinks (Single): 10 0.00
Control Equipment: 1.50
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Power Amplifier: 0.00
Turret: 1.00
Armor Factor: 96 6.00
Type: Standard
Armor
Value
Front: 24
R/L Side: 19
Rear: 15
Turret: 19
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Fixed Equipment Location Tonnage
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Alpha Strike Statistics
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Point Value (PV): 9
TP: CV, SZ: 1, TMM: 1, MV: 8"w
Damage: (S) 0 / (M) 0 / (L) 0
Armor (A): 3, Structure (S): 2
Specials: ENE, OMNI, SRCH
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