From: taia_a@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz (Second Genyosha)
Newsgroups: rec.games.mecha
Subject: The 85 ton dilemma (Repost)
Date: 12 Jan 1993 04:30:05 GMT
Organization: Wellington City Council (Public Access), Wgtn, Nz
Reply-To: taia_a@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz
NNTP-Posting-Host: kosmos.wcc.govt.nz


 Why we have 85 ton Battlemasters and why you should like it!

  Recently we had a little discussion on the net about 75 ton Battlemasters
and the grossly inefficient 85 ton Battlemaster in comparsion. Now here is
a list of reasons why it is better to build the 85 ton version.

  Here in the Concordant (periphery bandits!) we build a large number of
different types of mechs, but our main industries produce mostly light and
heavy mechs, so every now and then our losses of assault mechs due to attrition
get to a certain point and we do a limited production run of one type of
assault mech.  This time round we chose to produce between 30-40 Battlemasters,
but there have been certain people objecting and claiming that a 75 ton
Battlemaster would have the same weight of weapons and armor and cost
approximately 1.5 million cbills less than the 85 ton version (which is true).

  These are some of the reasons why we are going to produce the 85 ton standard
model (listed roughly in order of importance).

1)  We can have them *now* rather than waiting 2-5 years for R&D.

2)  The 85 ton standard model would still be cheaper, as R&D costs to change
   the chassis, engine and gyro would cost about 100 million cbills and we would
   only save 45-60 million, which is a loss of 40-55 million cbills!

3)  The 75 ton variants would not be compatible with existing spare parts.  The
   Battlemaster is one of the most common assault mechs and so there is a
   wealth of replacement parts available which our clients could use rather
   needing a special production run every time you need repairs.

4)  The 85 ton standard model is tested, tried and true.  We know that it works
   and that it works well (even if it is 'inefficient').

5)  The armor on the side torsos and center torso would have to be distributed
   elsewhere which would reduce the effectiveness of the armor as these are the 
   locations most commonly damaged in combat.

6)  There would be more internal structure and the 85 ton model would do more
   damage in physical combat.  In addition there are psychological intimidation
   factors involved when facing an *assault* mech.

  But in addition to these six considerations the Battlemaster does get better
options for upgrading (especially when you consider new tech) and 85 tons is
the most efficient weight for jump jets in that general weight class.  When you
put in endosteel and XL engines you free up more tonnage than the corresponding 
equipment does on a 75 ton mech and so you do become 'efficient' and you can
fit more double heat sinks into the larger engine.

  When you consider point #2 above it becomes obvious why there aren't more
mech types available.  Admittedly you can just fiddle around with the payload
on a mech and sometimes it works well, but what they don't tell you is that for
every Justin Liao-Allard who swaps his AC10 for an AC20 and cleans up on
Solaris there are 10 other mechwarriors who have their techs make 'little
changes' and then have the whole thing fall apart at an inconvenient time.
Which is why using proven mech designs is generally the way to go (unless your
tech is a genius), and hey even Dr Banzai with all the resources of the NAIS
took 20 years to improve the Hatchetman (lets just upgrade the autocannon and
add a bit more armor) and he ended up with the Axeman.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
     "Mortigans Marauders are out raiding New Syrtis for Gauss Rifles, if you
will leave your name and number after the PPC blast they'll get back to you
when they get back"    - Subaltern Carson, MM, VI corps, Taurian Concordant.
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**Note** This was posted on behalf of Subaltern Carson of Mortigans Marauders.
This has been....
 Tony Taia                 (Chu-sa of the Second Genyosha)
 TAIA_A@kosmos.wcc.govt.nz  **Join the DCMS see the Inner Sphere and kill it**
3055-3067: So little time, so many Clan meks to kill! Pussycats -1/2 price :)
**Noone knows what I know, so you know that what I know is only mine to know**