Originally posted on rec.games.mecha April 20, 1997
I know the premise of periphery raider mechs outgunning brave Taurian
light hovercraft isn't real strong, but when I saw a hovercraft with
an XL engine, I just had to "fix" it.
Name: Fulcrum - TC Heavy Hover Tank
Tonnage: 50
Engine: 165 fusion 10 (rounded up to comply with vehicle design
rules)
Cruise: 8
Flank: 12
Movement Type: Hover
C.C.: 2.5
I.S.: 5
Lift Equipment: 5
Heat Sinks: 10
Turret Tonnage: 1
Armor: 168 (standard) 10.5
Front: 46-5
L/RS: 30-5
Rear: 22-5
Turret: 40-5
Weapons:
PPC T 7.0
3 SRM 2 T 3.0
SRM 2 Ammo 50 B 1.0
2 LRM 5 F 4.0
LRM 5 Ammo 24 B 1.0
Cost: 2,250,000
Overview:
The main concern of the Taurian Defense Force is bandits and raiders.
Unfortunately, due to the recent expansion and colonization efforts of
the Taurian Concordat, the TDF's forces are stretched so thin that
they have few units available to hunt down these raiders. In an
effort to free up regular units to locate and attack these raiders at
their bases, the TDF prioritized the production of hovercraft
(particularly the J. Edgar and Plainsman hovertanks) to give local
militia and garrison units the ability to quickly hunt down and
destroy any raiding forces. While this strategy helped free up
regular army forces, it soon became evident that while the J. Edgar
and the Plainsman had the speed to catch any bandit mech force, once
caught, the bandits outgunned their pursuers. The J. Edgar and the
Plainsman were simply too lightly armored and armed to stand up to
battlemechs without the kind of numerical superiority that the TDF
could not afford. The TDF considered assigning their supply of
Gladius hovercraft to militia units, but decided that these were
simply too small in number to make a significant difference.
Alpha Trading Corporation volunteered their much larger Fulcrum Heavy
Hover Tank, produced locally on the planet Perdition, to solve the
problem. As a heavy hover tank with comparable speed and
significantly more firepower than the J. Edgar and the Plainsman, the
Fulcrum seemed an excellent choice. However, the TDF had serious
issues with the current Fulcrum design. First and foremost, the
high-tech XL engine made the hovercraft simply too expensive for the
TDF to afford. At 8.5 million C-Bills apiece, it would have been
cheaper to buy heavy and assault mechs from the Inner Sphere to
garrison each world. Second, many observers disliked the weapons mix
of the Fulcrum, arguing that the Large Laser, Medium Laser and LRM 10
were either too small, too large or too difficult to repair. Finally,
the TDF saw no need for the expensive Guardian ECM suite or Target
Acquisition Gear (especially as the Taurian Concordat possesses no
Arrow IV artillery missiles). After several months of negotiations,
ATC and the TDF were able to agree on the specifications of the hover
tank that eventually became the Fulcrum - TC.
Capabilities:
The Fulcrum-TC replaces the expensive Strand 265 XL Fusion engine with
a slightly lighter but less efficient ATC 165 Fusion. The resulting
top speed of 130 kph is close enough to that of the J. Edgar and
Plainsman to be adequate, and the slight weight savings allowed an
additional half ton of armor to be mounted on the sides and rear.
In keeping with the stated purpose - to rapidly deliver as much
firepower as possible - the weapons systems of the Fulcrum were
completely revamped. The large and medium lasers were replaced with a
PPC, and the turret-mounted LRM 10 was replaced with three SRM 2
launchers, suitable for standard or napalm munitions. The much more
compact engine left internal space for the ammunition of two new LRM 5
launchers, mounted facing the front.
Variants:
A temporary shortage of LRM 5 launchers led to what is currently the
most popular Fulcrum-TC variant. The two LRM launchers were replaced
with four forward-firing SRM 2 launchers, and the LRM ammo with
additional SRM ammo. This increases the ammo consumption somewhat,
but this is not considered significant because the Fulcrum is not
intended for extended combat, and the increase in short-range
firepower is welcomed by many crews.
Battle History:
The Fulcrum-TC has already participated in battles against bandits on
two Taurian Concordat worlds. In both cases, they were able to turn
the tide of battle against bandits who expected to be fighting the
more lightly armed and armored hovercraft that are more typical of
Taurian militia forces. In one battle on the planet Sterope, the
leader of a raider force was captured when numerous hits from an SRM 2
variant Fulcrum hit his mechs head, knocking him unconscious. In
fact, several regular TDF armored units have requested that the
Fulcrum-TC be added to their rosters.