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Description
MotR 23/30 Archer "Grenadier"
*exhales*

Only one day left for March of the Robots. I can do this. While a bit tiring to start every morning tryign to bang out a 1 hr(ish) sketch, it was also a good way to sort myself out post 'Rona, kind of workign myself back into "shape". (Hey, pear is a shape!)

Anyhow, y'all don't come here to listen to me whine. So on to the gundams.

In any time of great technical advance and innovation, for every great and succesful idea, there are dozens that are less so. Some are outright flops, some may just be too niche to really catch on.

The "Grenadier" is a case of the latter.

When the ARC-5S Archer first came off the assembly lines, it was hailed as a great advance. The new Edasich Extra-Light Engine freed up a lot of tonnage to improve the loadout of the mech, in all other areas. But as with all things, you don't get "something for nothing". That same engine would ironically make the mechs more fragile than before (though at least the CASE ledt a salvagable chassis and living pilot), and by the 3060s the "XL Craze" was fading with many machines going back to std engines, the Dragoons/Lyrans developing the LFE, etc.

But that left hundreds of XL equipped Archers, and the sheer scope of factory refitting them all with LFEs, etc, was simply too much, especialyl for the Militias many of these had been assigned to by the start of the FedCom Civil War.

The Grenadier concept was conceived by Victor's loyalists in 3065. With Katherine's forces largely on the defensive, now it often came down to digging them out from entrenched positions.

Between fortifications and the proliferation of AMS, traditional LRM fire was proving largely ineffective. And Artillery was too immobile and cumbersome to be widely available, especialyl in built up areas like cities and industrial parks.

Stripping the 5S of all it's stock weapons, all the basic structure of the design was left untouched, for simple expediency of refit. A pair of Mech Mortar/8s were mounted behind it's shoulders. Each would be supplied by a 18 rd magazine, allowing for some mix of munitions, to customize payload to the job.

Borrowing from Solaris, a Small Shield would be mounted to the left arm, in case the Grenadier had to set up in a location with less than ideal cover. One advantage of the Mortar is it's arc of fire allow them to be fired even with the Shield in "Active Protection" mode*

For point defense, it carries a single Large X-Pulse Laser. While they didn't want to leave a warrior defenseless if attacked at close range, or out of ammunition, they also didn't want to give the machine "just enough firepower to get you killed" by encouraging a warrior to overstay on the battlefield.

Only a few dozen would be built, and they performed their assigned role well enough, overall. The main issues were simply the relative ineffectiveness, for mass, of Mortar Weapons, in general, but also the extremely focused nature of it's role. With machines like Mech's it's very hard to justify a mech that is essenitally "in case of siege, break glass", even for large House Militaries, as most machines are full time assignments, and in most roles outside of attacking fortified positions, the Grenadier is relatively useless. So either your mechwarrior and his machine sat idle most of the time, or they would be assigned to a normal combat role where they usually ended up little more than a target.

During the Pax Republica the concept would be revisited, new technologies and alternate weapons would be used, but for the most part, the same issues would remain. Most would be converted back to a 5S or updated to LFE standards, or simply mothballed, though a few wealthier units, especially those with more experience delpoying artillery, would keep the design from disappearing completely.

Quirks:
Battlefists
Command 'Mech
Stable
Ubiquitous
*Illegal Design - the use of torso mounted weapons while a shiled in that torso is "Active" is technically illegal IIRC, even if it really makes little sense when dealing with high arc inirect weapons like MechMortars, Artillery Pieces or Artillery Cannons. Being able to be paired with "active" mech shields actually might enhance the utillity of these weapons. Think of say, a mech with Hardened Armor, and two Large Mech Shields, with a LongTom Cannon. Kind of parking in a spot, activating shields and just lobbing shells. The LT-C isn't a balance breaking weapon by any stretch, so it's unlikely this would lead to minmax metas, but it might make these virtually unseen weapons a little more attractive to take.

If I'm wrong and they can be paired (just going off what I read on Sarna/Mech Factory. Like the art itself, I literally make this lore up on the fly and try to spend less than two hours total art and lore, to post, so mistakes def will be made.), well, more better butter?

help me recover from my bout w/COVID by dropping a tip here: (I could use it)
ko-fi.com/bishopsbeerfund

Description
MotR 23/30 Archer "Grenadier"
*exhales*

Only one day left for March of the Robots. I can do this. While a bit tiring to start every morning tryign to bang out a 1 hr(ish) sketch, it was also a good way to sort myself out post 'Rona, kind of workign myself back into "shape". (Hey, pear is a shape!)

Anyhow, y'all don't come here to listen to me whine. So on to the gundams.

In any time of great technical advance and innovation, for every great and succesful idea, there are dozens that are less so. Some are outright flops, some may just be too niche to really catch on.

The "Grenadier" is a case of the latter.

When the ARC-5S Archer first came off the assembly lines, it was hailed as a great advance. The new Edasich Extra-Light Engine freed up a lot of tonnage to improve the loadout of the mech, in all other areas. But as with all things, you don't get "something for nothing". That same engine would ironically make the mechs more fragile than before (though at least the CASE ledt a salvagable chassis and living pilot), and by the 3060s the "XL Craze" was fading with many machines going back to std engines, the Dragoons/Lyrans developing the LFE, etc.

But that left hundreds of XL equipped Archers, and the sheer scope of factory refitting them all with LFEs, etc, was simply too much, especialyl for the Militias many of these had been assigned to by the start of the FedCom Civil War.

The Grenadier concept was conceived by Victor's loyalists in 3065. With Katherine's forces largely on the defensive, now it often came down to digging them out from entrenched positions.

Between fortifications and the proliferation of AMS, traditional LRM fire was proving largely ineffective. And Artillery was too immobile and cumbersome to be widely available, especialyl in built up areas like cities and industrial parks.

Stripping the 5S of all it's stock weapons, all the basic structure of the design was left untouched, for simple expediency of refit. A pair of Mech Mortar/8s were mounted behind it's shoulders. Each would be supplied by a 18 rd magazine, allowing for some mix of munitions, to customize payload to the job.

Borrowing from Solaris, a Small Shield would be mounted to the left arm, in case the Grenadier had to set up in a location with less than ideal cover. One advantage of the Mortar is it's arc of fire allow them to be fired even with the Shield in "Active Protection" mode*

For point defense, it carries a single Large X-Pulse Laser. While they didn't want to leave a warrior defenseless if attacked at close range, or out of ammunition, they also didn't want to give the machine "just enough firepower to get you killed" by encouraging a warrior to overstay on the battlefield.

Only a few dozen would be built, and they performed their assigned role well enough, overall. The main issues were simply the relative ineffectiveness, for mass, of Mortar Weapons, in general, but also the extremely focused nature of it's role. With machines like Mech's it's very hard to justify a mech that is essenitally "in case of siege, break glass", even for large House Militaries, as most machines are full time assignments, and in most roles outside of attacking fortified positions, the Grenadier is relatively useless. So either your mechwarrior and his machine sat idle most of the time, or they would be assigned to a normal combat role where they usually ended up little more than a target.

During the Pax Republica the concept would be revisited, new technologies and alternate weapons would be used, but for the most part, the same issues would remain. Most would be converted back to a 5S or updated to LFE standards, or simply mothballed, though a few wealthier units, especially those with more experience delpoying artillery, would keep the design from disappearing completely.

Quirks:
Battlefists
Command 'Mech
Stable
Ubiquitous
*Illegal Design - the use of torso mounted weapons while a shiled in that torso is "Active" is technically illegal IIRC, even if it really makes little sense when dealing with high arc inirect weapons like MechMortars, Artillery Pieces or Artillery Cannons. Being able to be paired with "active" mech shields actually might enhance the utillity of these weapons. Think of say, a mech with Hardened Armor, and two Large Mech Shields, with a LongTom Cannon. Kind of parking in a spot, activating shields and just lobbing shells. The LT-C isn't a balance breaking weapon by any stretch, so it's unlikely this would lead to minmax metas, but it might make these virtually unseen weapons a little more attractive to take.

If I'm wrong and they can be paired (just going off what I read on Sarna/Mech Factory. Like the art itself, I literally make this lore up on the fly and try to spend less than two hours total art and lore, to post, so mistakes def will be made.), well, more better butter?

help me recover from my bout w/COVID by dropping a tip here: (I could use it)
ko-fi.com/bishopsbeerfund