Proposal: Type 5 "Fukuryu" Mite-Class Rad-BeamerDifficulty: Very Hard Result: (4+2)-2=4,
PoorThe
Fukuryu is what the scientific community refers to as a
graser, and not a
gaser as one engineer referred to while telling others not to use the term before being imprisoned indefinitely for failing to do his research.
Whereas a laser pumps out energy in the form of concentrated light, the Rad-Beamer does so with gamma radiation. Concentrating gamma radiation into a coherent beam cuts down on its natural ability to effortlessly penetrate materials, giving it the capacity to cause actual physical damage to inorganic objects while still irradiating said object. Organic matter is also heavily damaged by these concentrated beams, and electronics are particularly vulnerable to the effects of the concentrated radiation. While the physical piercing effect is limited, the radioactive field it creates can and will affect organic and electronic objects deeper into a target.
The
Small Mount graser does hit the
slight hurdle of creation and "storage" of gamma radiation. A bulky series of extremely complicated chambers provides the
Fukuryu with the energy it requires as ammunition, making what is essentially a small secondary nuclear reactor particularly vulnerable to damage from enemy fire. In a best-case scenario the weapon is simply knocked out of action. More commonly the damage will result in a radiation leak that impacts the mech and its pilot, or somewhat less commonly the entire thing will explode in a manner only slightly less devastating than losing a fusion engine.
While heat production from firing the weapon is minimal, this is offset and then some by the increased ambient heat level resulting from the mechanisms in place to produce gamma radiation.
Current construction and "safety" measures use very expensive synthetic materials purpose-built for the task they just barely manage to pull off, making the
Type 5 "Fukuryu" Mite-Class Rad-Beamer, well,
Very Expensive.
Proposal: Wingcutter v2Difficulty: NormalResult: 5+4=9,
Above AverageThe
Wingcutter v2 is a
Small multipurpose missile launching system designed with a focus on antiaircraft work. The two-stage missile is fairly nimble and uses a mech-based radar targeting system to intercept airborne targets with acceptable accuracy. This targeting system is able to predict proper intercept vectors based on the target's trajectory at the moment of launch and can adjust in flight so long as the mech maintains target lock. Extremely fast or nimble targets can maneuver to shake the missile, but a magnetic trigger that activates in the second stage of flight makes sure a near-miss is, well, not quite a miss. Unfortunately the amount of fuel required to make these small missiles reach out and touch enemies at long ranges eats into the size of the warhead. While still effective against aircraft, this limits the impact of the missiles when dumbfired at ground targets. They still
hurt though, as the blast of tungsten and molten copper, while limited in lethal area of effect, is still very much lethal. The four tubes are fired individually when used in an AA capacity and can be dumbfired in a salvo before being quickly reloaded from the mech's internal ammo stores. These magazines are protected by a thin case of steel armor.
Missiles using standard forms of propellant will always produce heat, although
where it is mounted can impact the amount of heat generated severely.
The
Wingcutter v2 is considered
Cheap.
Proposal: Wolf PupDifficulty: Very HardResult: (6+5)-2=9,
Above AverageThe first foray into a quadrupedal combat mech comes in the form of the
WLP-1 "Wolf Pup". This ambitious project pushed the limits of "miniaturization" of fusion engines as a whole, not just the
Wasabi, while remaining efficient enough for military use. But it works!
The slightly tapered cylindrical "body" of the
Wolf Pup is thickest at the center and gets smaller at either end and topped with a level spine running across the top. A pair of powerful hind legs provide the mech with the capability to propel itself forward at very high speeds, while thinner front legs are designed to pivot much more than the hind legs in their sockets and give the mech fine steering capabilities. Large spikes held within each leg can be extended to dig into the ground for additional stability and can be used by more skillful pilots while on the move for emergency breaking and other advanced or creative maneuvers. The mech strides more like a, well, mech than it's inspiration, and attempting tighter maneuvers at top speeds will likely result in a tumble.
The pilot sits in a well-protected bubble cockpit in the rounded front end of the mech with an immense field of view. This is intended to aid the pilot in scouting and target identification for using the spinally-mounted
Oni's Bark in the mech's sole
Medium Weapon Mount. Aiming the weapon relies entirely upon the facing of the mech, although minute adjustments can be made by "leaning" the mech slightly one way or another. When fired, the
Oni's Bark's recoil is heavily dampened by the quadrupedal mech, even more so when the stabilizing spikes are deployed.
The two
Heat Sink Banks installed on the back were originally designed as dedicated heat sinks for the weapon, but one engineer who nobody has seen before and nobody has heard from since came into the room one day and said "but what about the rest of the fuckin' heat this thing produces, my dudes?" The two heat sinks are now responsible for overall cooling of the entire mech, requiring a pilot to pause for a few thankfully brief moments after a hard sprint in order for the mech to cool before firing lest they want to risk overheating past a salvo or two. A pair of
Jump Jets on the belly of the
Wolf Pup allow traversal of vertical terrain, although landings are a bit rougher than with its bipedal counterparts.
The
Wolf Pup is armored against small arms, but in order to maintain a low overall weight armor was sacrificed. After all, this thing isn't designed to be getting hit in the first place. This might be different if we had a functional more advanced armor.
The
WLP-1 "Wolf Pup" is is relatively minimalist, just highly tuned, meaning it is
Cheap.
----------------
It is now the Revision Phase.You have two actions with which you can adjust, improve, modify, or butcher your existing equipment.
Small Weapons
Small Lasers: Low-power energy weapons that draw from a mech's power source. Low power draw, but low range and low damage as a result. Cheap
Type 5 "Fukuryu" Mite-Class Rad-Beamer: A gamma radiation-based energy weapon that is extremely effective against organic and electronic targets while material penetration remains at acceptable levels. Uses a practically miniature nuclear reactor to produce gamma radiation, making it a volatile and costly piece of equipment. It also increases the base heat level of a mech. Very Expensive
"Akita" 12.5mm Machine Gun: A 12.5mm machine gun that fires 300 rounds a minute. Effective against infantry and light armor. Cheap
"Type 25" 40mm Precision Cannon: An automatic 40mm cannon firing sabot rounds at 180 RPM. Provides anti-armor capability at close and medium ranges. Produces some heat. Cheap
Wingcutter LRSM-2: A 4-tube missile launcher firing tungsten-copper warheads. Capable of locking onto aircraft using mech-based equipment and can be dumbfired otherwise. Has a magnetic trigger to more reliably damage a nearby target with. Single-fires when locked onto a target and can be released as a salvo when fired "dumb". Cheap
Medium Weapons
"Oni's Bark" Type 77 120mm Cannon: A weapon that fires a pair of 120mm rounds in quick succession: a leading armor penetrating round and then a high explosive shaped warhead. Recoil is somewhat strong and heat generation is high, but otherwise it is an effective fighting weapon. Can fire every eight seconds. Expensive
Components
WO.Mk4 Fusion Engine: A fusion engine designed by the Weitraum Republic and Okinasu Empire. Functional, but can catastrophically explode if it takes a significant blow. Efficacy of this engine drops precipitously as mass and energy weapons are added to a chassis. Cheap
WOO MK1 Fusion engine “Donutstacker”: A fusion engine designed by the Okinasu Empire. The decompression chambers sandwiching the reactor core do little more than provide a small power bump. Definitely does not divert entire fusion explosions out of exhaust pipes. Cheap
-WOO Mk1 "Donutstacker-Wasabi": A Donutstacker that uses the decompression chambers as secondary reactors instead, providing a small increase in power generation. Now with a protective armor casing! Cheap
Jump Jets: Jet boosters that allow a mech to subject itself to a loosely controlled launch in a parabolic arc and subsequent loosely controlled landing. A larger number of jump jets are needed for higher mass chassis. Cheap
Heat Sink Bank: A collection of heat sinks meant to release excess thermal energy produced by a mech in order to keep the meat inside from cooking beyond medium. Fairly effective thanks to the use of DuPont Freon and better fin materials. Cheap
Standard Steel Armor: A basic, cheap form of protection. Can stop small arms and lighter vehicle-based weaponry, and can resist smaller mech-sized weapons with some regularity. Cheap
RockSkin Armour: Multilayered armor consisting of steel plate, metal-impregnated foam, a honeycombed layer of ceramic plates, and a final honeycombed layer of aerogel. It currently fails violently. Incomplete
HTM-1 "Hitman": A 30 ton bipedal mech with a cubed torso and a fixed domed head holding the cockpit. The torso can rotate up to 90 degrees in either direction. The HTM-1 has a Small Mount in the center of the torso housing an "Akita" 12.5mm Machine Gun with its ammo and a Small Mount on each side of the torso for a pair of Small Lasers. The side mounts have limited horizontal traversal but can be adjusted vertically +/-60 degrees. The torso mount has a greater freedom of movement, allowing it to fire on close targets much smaller than itself. The HTM-1 utilizes a WO.Mk4 Fusion Engine to provide power throughout. Jump Jets in the upper legs provide some ability to get airborne and control descents. The HTM-1 runs fairly hot during prolonged combat tests due to an inefficient pair of Subpar Heat Sink Banks in the torso flanking the "spine". The HTM-1 uses Standard Steel Armor for protection against smaller weaponry and some defense against an equivalent mech. Cheap
-HTM-1TO "Hitman": A variant of the Hitman that replaces the lasers with Type 25s and the WO.Mk4 with a MK1 Donutstacker. It is slightly faster than the base Hitman and comes with a jet-assisted ejection seat. Cheap
ONI-1TO: A 50-ton mech with a bulky triangular body wider at the shoulders and tapering in toward the waist. A Small Weapon Mount at each shoulder houses a Type 25 and a Medium Weapon Mount is installed centrally in the torso with an "Oni's Bark" Type 77 120mm Cannon. The rudimentary L-shaped arms end in conical fists and act as tertiary weapons. The Oni can launch powerful strikes using the tip of the conefists and immense force to punch through thick armor. The arms can pivot somewhat in their shoulder joints to provide a better range of attack. Another triangular shape makes up the head and cockpit and is equipped with a pair of powerful spotlights resembling eyes. Comes with a catapult-assisted ejection system. Armor is very thick for mechs of an equivalent weight class, and angling across its entire body aid in reducing effective incoming fire fairly well. Thanks to the WOO Mk1 "Donutstacker-Wasabi" powering the mech it can still hit speeds greater than the Hitman. Five Subpar Heat Sinks provide a fair bit of cooling. The cockpit is impeccably decorated with every comfort provided to the pilot. Neat neon lights line the outside of the mech and border the Oni's Bark and the heat sinks. Expensive
WLP-1 "Wolf Pup": A 25-ton quadrupedal mech. The cylindrical body is thickest at the center, geting smaller at either end and is topped with a level spine running across the top. A pair of powerful hind legs provide the mech high speed propulsion while thinner front legs are designed to pivot much more and give the mech fine steering capabilities. Large spikes within each leg can be extended to dig into the ground for additional stability and can be used by more skillful pilots while on the move for emergency breaking and other advanced maneuvers. Agile, but attempting tighter maneuvers at top speeds will likely result in a tumble. The pilot sits in a bubble cockpit in the rounded front end of the mech. The Wolf Pup utilizes a spinally-mounted Oni's Bark in the mech's sole Medium Weapon Mount. Aiming the weapon relies entirely upon the facing of the mech, although minute adjustments can be made by "leaning" the mech slightly. The Oni's Bark's recoil is heavily dampened by the mech and stabilizing spikes. Two Heat Sink Banks installed on the back are responsible for overall cooling of the entire mech, requiring a pilot to pause for a few thankfully brief moments after a hard sprint in order for the mech to cool before firing lest they want to risk overheating past a salvo or two. A pair of Jump Jets on the belly of the Wolf Pup allow traversal of vertical terrain, although landings are a bit rough. The Wolf Pup is armored against small arms, but in order to maintain a low overall weight armor was sacrificed. Cheap
Type 35 "Toigurenedo" 255mm Self-Propelled Artillery: A tracked artillery piece built on the chassis of the modern Imperial main battle tank. It does not have much in the way of armor and top speed is lower than average. The large shells can be fired out to ranges beyond 50km at a rate of 15 rounds per minute. 150 shells are stored in the large autoloader compartment positioned behind the gun hanging past the rear of the tank chassis, and when that runs dry the weapon can be hand-fed through a breech inside the vehicle. Can be rapidly reloaded by a utility vehicle equipped with a crane. Rounds are standard High Explosive.
-"Nokku" 255mm Multipenetrator Airburst Shell: Replaces the high explosive warhead with one packed with a dozen sharpened tungsten carbide rods. A charge inside the shell detonates during flight after it begins returning to the ground, breaking the shell apart and propelling the rods in a shotgun-like blast. The shell is more blunted than is typical, impacting range and accuracy somewhat, but is capable of dealing devastating damage.