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[Man of Paper]

Core Thread

It's 3155 and those slippery Okinasu have decided their regional dominance is more important than providing for the common defense of the UPC. While we can't be certain who struck the first blow, we are determined to strike the last. You will be pivotal in this goal as you develop mechs for use in our glorious Republican Armed Forces. The RAF looks forward to utilizing the Hitman as well as whatever other metal beasts you make.

The first larger engagements we will be introducing our BattleMech forces in are predicted to take place on the planets of Keiko's Rest and Vordwelt. Both planets are temperate with low civilian populations. Keiko's Rest will be our first offensive operation, with the capture or destruction of mech production facilities being the primary objective. Vordwelt will be a defensive operation as the Empire seeks to steal the wealth of resources buried beneath the surface. Battles on this planet will often take place in wide open fields.

We're counting on you to provide us with mechs capable of securing dominance on the field. Good luck!

Remember, you have TWO DESIGNS to utilize. Also remember that you cannot make a wholly new Chassis without a credit!

Spoiler: Weapons/Components (click to show/hide)

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
"Pinscher" 12.5mm Machine Gun: A 12.5mm machine gun that fires 300 rounds a minute. Effective against infantry and light armor. Cheap

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
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
Subpar 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. Slightly more effective than putting a fan in the cockpit. 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

Spoiler: Chassis/Mechs (click to show/hide)

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 "Pinscher" 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

[KhazintheDark]

I believe we should focus on two fundamental technologies, the first is the fusion engine and the second is better heat protection for the pilot, this might be through improved heat sinks or through some form of heat baffling techniques. If the latter doesn't require reworking the Chassis that is. At the current moment in time I am firmly of the opinion that improving the weapon payload without improving the heat sinking capability is extremely poorly thought out and while I would like to have better weapons I don't think its a good idea until we rectify the flaws with the powerplant and temperature management.

[NUKE9.13]

I believe we should focus on two fundamental technologies, the first is the fusion engine and the second is better heat protection for the pilot, this might be through improved heat sinks or through some form of heat baffling techniques. If the latter doesn't require reworking the Chassis that is. At the current moment in time I am firmly of the opinion that improving the weapon payload without improving the heat sinking capability is extremely poorly thought out and while I would like to have better weapons I don't think its a good idea until we rectify the flaws with the powerplant and temperature management.

Agreed. We can afford to lose a fight or two if it means establishing a solid foundation for future upgrades. I've written an engine design, and was thinking improving the heat sinks could be a revision- but a radically improved heat-handling system could be worth a design too.

WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine:
This totally original fusion engine (copyright 3155 do not steal) is in some respects similar to the WO.Mk4, which might lead to the assumption that we used it as a basis to improve upon. But that would mean giving credit to the Okinasu Empire, so no, not a derivative. Don't worry about the filed-off serial numbers.
Even if it was a derivative, we've made big improvements. With feedback data from in-field exercises, we've pinpointed some flaws with the Mk4, such as a poor ability to deal with the power surges needed to fire energy weapons. Also, the general output is sufficient for the HTM-1, but runs dangerously close to max capacity during live exercises, and would certainly struggle with a more powerful mech. Oh, and the explosions. Those are bad too.

To improve the power output, we've employed stronger magnetic coils to further compress the fusion material. These coils require slightly more advanced materials than those used in the Mk4, but should not break the bank.
To handle power surges, we've added a tank of Near Ignition Tritium Reagent One Use Substance that can inject extra reaction material into the fusion chamber, providing a temporary boost in output. Despite this, the higher-quality fuel ensures the reactor is not overly stressed. Though obviously uses are limited, the ability to go all-out for a few seconds could be of great use to our warrior mechs.
As regards the instability of the Mk4, we have an ingenious solution: armour. Not a lot of armour, but ffs, why didn't we think of this when we designed the Mk4? Did nobody ask what would happen if the engine got shot? Oh well. Adding light armour around vital components does not entirely resolve the explosion issue, but it does increase the amount of damage the engine needs to take before it happens.

E: Another thing.

WR.Verrekijker Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid:
When a mech pilot is leaning forwards in their seats and squinting to try and make out a mech standing half a mile away, someone fucked up.

The Verrekijker (roughly pronounced Ferr-uh-kike-ur) Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid is a component that broadly aims to improve situational awareness and weapon accuracy.
It features several cameras on multiple spectra, as well as radar and microphones (all hardened so as not to break at the slightest damage). The data produced is automatically filtered for relevance, so as not to overwhelm the pilot, although they can manually pull up sensor information if they choose. The pilot can also rewind footage, set specific parameters to filter for, and add special effects to make the video they show off later look cooler (sepiatone is a popular one).
Having identified a target, the Verrekijker also helps with actually hitting them, by adding targeting reticules with adjustments for expected trajectory, wind speed, projectile drop, and so on. The pilot can also place weapons under the direct control of the Verrekijker, to allow them to focus on things like moving around while the computer takes care of small fry.

The Verrekijker does not take up a lot of space relative to the size of a mech- the hardened sensors are mounted externally, while the processing unit can generally be jammed into the torso somewhere.

[Happerry]

"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array
Our mechs have a problem with heat. The problem is that they have too much heat. However, since heat is made out of infrared light, if we take that heat and fire it out of our mech, we can put the heat that gives us problems somewhere that isn't inside our mech. A system that takes light and fires it somewhere else is a laser. Therefor what we need is a laser heat sink. Sadly, our engineers have very emphatically informed me that we can't make a heat laser that's powered by the heat it makes firing the laser to overheat the enemy mechs, but they did eventually admit that they might be able to design a non-damaging laser system that takes our mech's heat and lasers it into the surroundings where it becomes not our problem any more.

Here's a heat sink design to go with the upgrading the fundamentals plan.

[TricMagic]

WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine: (1) TricMagic
WR.Verrekijker Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid: (0)
"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper " Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array: (1) TricMagic

[Happerry]

WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine: (2) TricMagic, Happerry
WR.Verrekijker Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid: (0)
"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper " Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array: (2) TricMagic. Happerry

[Taricus]

WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine: (3) TricMagic, Happerry, Taricus
WR.Verrekijker Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid: (0)
"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper " Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array: (3) TricMagic, Happerry, Taricus

[Stirk]

"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array
However, since heat is made out of infrared light,

So that's how heat works. I always thought it had something to do with bad vibes.

As I see it the problem is the little bag of meat we have sitting in the cockpit. If we simply remove the human from the equation, then we won't have to worry about silly things like "pilot safety" and can even turn the "nuclear fireball" bug into a feature. I doubt we'd be able to hit AI right away but we might be able to get it in a few turns if we're inclined for the long game.

Our mechs have a weakpoint in them known as the "pilot". While we still need human intervention to properly engage the enemy, this system allows the pilot to control the mech from a safe distance (such as from the jump ship in orbit). This allows us to perform maneuvers that would be considered impossible with a human pilot, free up cockpit space for more armor, and engage the enemy fearlessly as defeat is no longer death.

This component has two parts. First is the part inside the mech, replacing the cockpit chair. It is to be integrated with all the mech's internal systems and will send messages to the second part. The second part is the new pilot chair, located a safe distance away from the mech. The pilot will control the mech remotely using this second component using a layout similar to the original (so that little new training is necessary). High-quality communication devices will reduce input lag as much as possible, so that engaging directly will have no advantage over engaging remotely. 

[NUKE9.13]

First off, Laser Heat Sinks are an actual Battletech thing- I was surprised too, but here we are.

Secondly, I very much doubt we will be able to remove pilots from the equation without losing serious amounts of efficacy. Yeah, logically it might make sense, but MoP made it clear that we are supposed to stick to basic mech structures. If we remove pilots, we might as well remove the head, replace the legs with treads, and scale it down so it isn’t such a massive target.

[TricMagic]

First off, Laser Heat Sinks are an actual Battletech thing- I was surprised too, but here we are.

Secondly, I very much doubt we will be able to remove pilots from the equation without losing serious amounts of efficacy. Yeah, logically it might make sense, but MoP made it clear that we are supposed to stick to basic mech structures. If we remove pilots, we might as well remove the head, replace the legs with treads, and scale it down so it isn’t such a massive target.

Yeah, at that point we might as well make support machines that are fairly automated.
Should probably see the rules so I can tell if air support drones are banned.

[Stirk]

First off, Laser Heat Sinks are an actual Battletech thing- I was surprised too, but here we are.

Secondly, I very much doubt we will be able to remove pilots from the equation without losing serious amounts of efficacy. Yeah, logically it might make sense, but MoP made it clear that we are supposed to stick to basic mech structures. If we remove pilots, we might as well remove the head, replace the legs with treads, and scale it down so it isn’t such a massive target.

As long as we're in the spirit of mechs it should be fine, right? Self aware robots are totally in the spirit of mechs! We could go with an Avatar thing if we still need the pilot to die if the mech dies.

[NUKE9.13]

First off, Laser Heat Sinks are an actual Battletech thing- I was surprised too, but here we are.

Secondly, I very much doubt we will be able to remove pilots from the equation without losing serious amounts of efficacy. Yeah, logically it might make sense, but MoP made it clear that we are supposed to stick to basic mech structures. If we remove pilots, we might as well remove the head, replace the legs with treads, and scale it down so it isn’t such a massive target.

As long as we're in the spirit of mechs it should be fine, right? Self aware robots are totally in the spirit of mechs! We could go with an Avatar thing if we still need the pilot to die if the mech dies.

For reference, I asked if this was possible, and MoP updated the OP to include this line:

No AI “pilots”

Now technically that doesn't say No Remote-Control/Avatar Shenanigans, but I doubt those would fly either.

Anyway.

WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine: (4) TricMagic, Happerry, Taricus, NUKE9.13
WR.Verrekijker Sensor Suite & Targeting Aid: (0)
"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array: (4) TricMagic, Happerry, Taricus, NUKE9.13

[Man of Paper]

Proposal: WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine
Difficulty: Hard
Result: (5+5)-1=9; Above Average

The WR.Kaarsvlam is our first attempt at a mech-powering fusion engine without the assistance of the Okinasu engineers, and honestly we think they might have been holding us back a little bit.

Advanced magnetic coils and cleaner fuel improve the power production over the previous generation of fusion engines, providing much greater flexibility for any mechs we install it in in the future. A protective steel casing surrounds the generator assembly to provide additional protection beyond the mech's own armor and frame, and while it isn't a large amount of protection, it should definitely impact the frequency of catastrophic kills.

The most interesting advancement in the field of fusion engines comes in the form of a Near Ignition Tritium Reagent One Use Substance tank attached to the engine. This fuel injector can be activated at-will by the mech pilot in order to provide a temporary but powerful increase in energy production. This extra power does have some potential downsides, such as firing way too many weapons too frequently until the mech overheats and the pilot fries (admittedly something that can happen anyway), but that should all be mitigated with a little training.

The WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine is the next step forward in mech engine development and should be more than capable of powering any light mechs we produce and, theoretically, could work for a heavier class of mech as well. The WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine is Cheap.


Proposal: "Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Sink Array
Difficulty: Hard
Result: (2+2)-1=3; Buggy Mess

The "H-Word" turned out to be a real C-word during development. Producing an actual IR laser utilizing the heat produced by our mechs seemed pretty easy to do on paper, but reality proved to have opinions of its own.

We didn't manage to produce ourselves a mech-sized laser, but we did do a lot of work to make heat convert to light that is emitted away from the mech. These "H-Lamps" are components that can be fitted onto a mech and are wired into its heat dispersal system. The H-Lamps themselves are mounted externally. As the mech begins to heat up, the lights begin to "glow" with infrared light (if you have the capability to see IR). H-Lamps are a passive heat dispersal system much like our standard heat sink arrays but are more efficient at higher temperatures.

The conversion of ambient heat within the mech to infrared light isn't necessarily the simplest of processes, requiring a number of costly components to make. The end result is the "Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Lamps coming in at an Expensive cost level.


----


It is now the Revision Phase! You have two revisions to modify or alter your existing weapons, components, and mechs as you see fit!

Spoiler: Weapons/Components (click to show/hide)

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

"Pinscher" 12.5mm Machine Gun: A 12.5mm machine gun that fires 300 rounds a minute. Effective against infantry and light armor. Cheap

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
WR.Kaarsvlam Fusion Engine: A fusion engine designed solely by the Weitraum Republic. It has extra armoring and provides more power to the mech than previous generations of fusion engine. A Near Ignition Tritium Reagent One Use Substance fuel injector lets the pilot add extra oomph to the mech without drawbacks so long as they control themselves. Should have no problems with powering light mechs and is theoretically capable of handling heavier mechs.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

Subpar 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. Slightly more effective than putting a fan in the cockpit. Cheap
"Hitteontruimingslichtwerper" Infrared Emitting Heat Lamps: Large lamps mounted on the outside of a mech that convert internal heat into external IR light. H-Lamps are more efficient at higher temperatures than a typical heat sink bank. Expensive

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

Spoiler: Chassis/Mechs (click to show/hide)

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 "Pinscher" 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

[NUKE9.13]

Those heat sinks could use some work.

Geactiveerde-Hitteontruimingslichtwerper:
H-Lamps work, but not very well. There is a simple solution when things don't work very well: MORE POWER. Which is to say, ANY POWER. Current H-Lamps are passive, but the addition of active excitation beams should increase performance significantly. These excitation beams are low-energy lasers that are directed at the radiating surfaces of the H-Lamps. This excites the surfaces, which essentially causes them to act as if they are significantly hotter than they actually are, radiating IR light at a higher intensity (and thus removing more heat from the Mech). At least, that's how Crazy Jan said it works. We asked another physicist for a second opinion, and they responded "What the fuck are you smoking". Bah, ignore the naysayers. MORE POWER = HIGHER PERFORMANCE. It's just common sense.

And maybe we could make some improved armour?

Dijkstijl Composite Armour:
(Roughly pronounced Dike-stile)
If you want to keep the sea out of your country, you don't use one material to build dikes, you use a combination of different materials. If you want to keep shells out of your mech, you don't use one material to make armour, you use a composite.

Dijkstijl Composite Armour is a step up from Standard Steel Armor. It consists of a thin layer of segmented ceramic on top, then a layer of steel, a layer of a glass-polymer-blend resin, and a second layer of steel. The ceramic layer is easily shattered by physical projectiles (which is why it is segmented, so that cracks do not spread very far), but absorbs light/heat from energy weapons more effectively than metal. The two steel layers combined are thinner than that used in SSA, but still provide excellent protection versus small arms. The resin layer serves as NERA to defeat larger projectiles (especially HEAM), as excessive pressure causes it to expand rapidly, both increasing the depth of the armour and disrupting the momentum of a penetrating object.

In all, DCA provides markedly improved resilience against most forms of attack. It is expected to be more expensive to produce than Standard Steel Armor, as the manufacturing and shaping process is lengthier.

[TricMagic]

No clue what language is being used.

Cycling Fans Cooling System
A standard upgrade to all cockpits, the cycling fans draw out hot air and gases to be replaced with fresh cooled air through a simple refrigeration setup. The hot air passes by the cooling systems multiple times for the heat to be leeched out of it. In this many survivability is increased. In cases where that isn't enough, we also have fresh oxygen ready to be pumped in, while the co2 filters catch all the gasses that would kill the pilot.

Meerdere Hitteontruimingslichtwerper:
H-Lamps work, but they don't do enough on their own. Obviously we need MORE lamps per square! By combining lamps into long strips, production cost can be reduced, allowing us to put more per square inch of mechs. Who says you have to have quality? Quantity has a quality of it's own. Just look at humans, there are a bunch of us! MORE=BETTER. It's just common sense. Cave Johnson, we're done here.
Please note H-Lamp Strips are a bigger target. We take no responsibility for irradiated pilots, components, landscapes, or mechs.