Overview:
The very first Behemolisher heavy tanks saw real live battles on Nibo itself in 3078. The ludicrously low speed had mattered little as invading Quickcell funded mercenaries found themselves fighting among the close confines of of Nibo City after advancing through open terrain, where speed counted for little.
The original Mk I and II Behemolishers were both armed for a pair of heavy hitting Gauss rifles, while the former had missile launchers, medium lasers and machines guns as secondary weapons while a single 20-class LBX autocannon on the latter saw many an opponent essentially jumped from the frying pan into the fire after weathering the initial GR barrage onto to come into range of the murderous AC.
After 2 decades of technological exchange with the Inner Sphere and continuous appearance of newer and arguably better weapons onto the battlefields, Nibo has revealed the latest generation of the machines that had garnered equal measures of scorn and praise to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the current King's reign.
Capabilities:
The Mk III retains the trade duo heavy guns on the earlier Behemolishers, but went on a different direction. Powered by a Fuel Cell Engine that save space but not an increase in speed, the designers from Nibo University reasoned that the Mk III would be operating mostly in heavy built-up and close terrain, negating the long range advantage that the gauss rifles had. Instead, the reworked turret of the Mk III houses a pair of long tom cannon. While of shorter range compared to the gauss rifles, the snub-nosed version of the artillery piece can be used for close range indirect fire - a capability that can easily be provided by infantry, Battle Armour and other vehicles. However, the sheer size of the long toms shells resulted in the feed mechanism being poorly armoured despite numerous redesigns. (Exposed Weapon Linkage, Long Tom Cannon Quirk)
To provide further flexibility to the design, four MML-3 launchers supplied with a 2 ton ammo bin allows the use of specialty ammunition based on tactical requirements. A bank of vehicular grenade launchers provides a one shot but welcome option of firing fragmentation grenades to shower the target area in deadly shrapnel, smoke grenades for creating concealment, incendiary grenades for setting fires, or chaff grenades which release a cloud of electromagnetic dust and high-intensity flares to confuse sensors. To further enhance the Mk III's ability to fight in close quarters, a ECM suite provides electronics protection. Despite not being equipped with a sensor probe, the highly advanced next generation of NHI Communique Sys utilized on the Vampire OmniTank meant that the Mk III comes equipped with an advanced sensor suite (Improved Sensors Quirk) that allows it to detect hidden enemy units.
While still being protected by CASE, the Mk III lost out to its predecessors in armour protection. 13 tons of heavy ferro-fibrous armour isn't something to sneeze at, but could only reach 70% of the protection that standard armour plating offered on the Mk I.
Deployment:
The first production run of Behemolisher Mk III went to the rebuilding Nibo Armed Forces. None had seen any real action, though field trials and live firing exercises saw both the good and bad of the machines. A single lance of Behemolisher Mk III could easily cripple an equal number of enemy units - 'Mechs, tanks or otherwise. However, a single hit from enemy had seen one of the Mk III being rendered toothless as the medium laser had cut through the ammunition feed link.
It is rumoured that the Capellans are once again looking to licence manufacture the new line of Behemolisher tanks, much like the original versions, to supplement her Milita units.
Variants:
Alongside the Mk III, a new Mk IV has been paraded out during the King's 20th anniversary celebrations.
Code: Select all
Behemolisher Mk III
Mass: 100 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Tracked
Rules Level: Experimental Tech
Era: All Eras (non-canon)
Tech Rating/Era Availability: E/X-X-F-A
Production Year: 3098
Cost: 6,350,667 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,612
Power Plant: 200 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 21.6 km/h
Flanking Speed: 32.4 km/h
Armor: NHB Type XIII Heavy Ferro-Fibrous with CASE
Armament:
2 Long Tom Art. Cannons
4 MML-3s
1 Vehicular Grenade Launcher
1 CASE
1 Guardian ECM Suite
Manufacturer: Nibo Heavy Industries
Primary Factory: Nibo VI
Communications System: NHI Communique Sys
Targeting and Tracking System: NHI T&T Model IX
Quirks:
- Exposed Weapons Linkage (Long Tom Cannon)
- Improved Sensors
Code: Select all
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 50 points 10.00
Engine: Fuel-Cell Engine 200 10.50
Cruise MP: 2
Flank MP: 3
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 5.00
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 5.00
Armor: Heavy Ferro-Fibrous AV - 257 13.00
Armor
Factor
Front 58
Left/Right 50/50
Turret 59
Rear 40
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2 Long Tom Art. Cannons T 40 2 40.00
4 MML-3s T 8 4 6.00
(F) Vehicular Grenade Launcher T - 1 0.50
CASE BD - 1 0.50
Guardian ECM Suite BD 0 1 1.50
@Long Tom Cannon (30) BD - 0 6.00
@MML-3 (LRM) (40) BD - 0 1.00
@MML-3 (SRM) (33) BD - 0 1.00
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 9 Points: 16
2t 5 6 5 0 4 0 Structure: 5
Special Abilities: ARTLTC, CASE, ECM, EE, TUR(5/6/5, SRM 2/1/1, LRM 2/1/1, IF 2/1/1), IF 1