So in the first mecha design post I used the MTS to design an average KA, the Sweord. In the second mecha design post I used the MTS to design a top of the line KA, the Pendragon. In this post I’m going to look at creating mecha from some of the other factions in the world, in this case the Saxons. I still havent entirely pinned down how the Saxons will work and what exactly they are yet so this may change a bit. However I’ll throw out a list of concept stuff for both the Saxons and their mecha and work from that.
- The Saxons arent, well, Saxons. I’m going to stray a bit from the real Pendragon setting here. I dont really want my Saxons to be rough and tumble Germans. I might keep the social structure and the geographic locations but in AMKAC (A Mecha in King Arthurs Court) the Saxons are actually refugees from the east and are more Asiatic looking than Caucasian looking (allowing for a millennia of post historical, post apocalyptic inter breeding)
- The Saxons Armour are generally smaller and lighter than KA’s which give them greater mobility but make them more vulnerable to damage
- Saxon’s have no problems with using ranged weaponry and the majority of their Armour’s use a projectile weapon as part of their main armament
- SA’s (Saxon Armours) dont use axes (well one or two unique Armour’s do), they’re generally armed with a spear and a projectile weapon
- SA’s very rarely use shields (this may end up changing if they keep getting smoked by KA’s)
- SA’s, like KA’s, use a thought control system. They can also regenerate but unlike KA’s their regeneration is fast enough to make it of use in combat.
- SA’s generally have an additional layer of armour over important areas
- SA’s are actually techno-organic beings. Not that anyone knows it. Like KA’s the Saxons lack the knowledge to understand their Armour’s construction or operation.
- SA’s are humanoid in form, generally have enough space in the cockpit for the pilot and one passenger, lack any EW and dont require fuel
- SA’s lack advanced movement systems, but their leg servos are commonly reinforced allowing them to leap large distances
- Saxon society works on a fairly rigid caste system consisting of Ethlings, Karls and Thralls (Basically Nobles, Freemen and Slaves). Each of those castes has its own subdivisions, the Ethlings class consists of Kings->Jarls->Thanes (equivalent to Knights), the Karls class has three fairly indistinct divisions and finally Thralls are all slaves. The four main Saxon Armour’s are the Ceorl (basic armour), Oegn (officer unit) Berserker (assault unit) and Ettin (heavy assault unit). There are also a number of unique Saxon Armour’s such as the Niht, Waelcyrge, Grendel and Gungnir.
- Wayland serves a similar purpose and takes a similar place as Merlin does in English society
Ceorl
1. Concept
The Ceorl is the basic “footsolider” of the Saxon armed forces. Unlike the English Knight Armours (all of which are more or less equal) the SA’s tend to have a bit more gradation in terms of performance. The game suggests that “grunt” mecha should be
2. Construct a Frame
2a Choose Body Form / 2b Buy Servos / 2c Wheels and Treads
Well the body form is humanoid as always, and it lacks wheels or treads. So that just leaves us with buying servos. For the Ceorl I’m going to go with all Striker class servos, which are about half as tough/big as the mediumweight servos I used for the Sweord. So that will cost us the following:
Servo Class Cost/Space/Kills Torso Servo Striker 6 Head Servo Striker 3 Right Arm Servo Medium Striker 5 Left Arm Servo Medium Striker 5 Right Leg Servo Striker 4 Left Leg Servo Striker 4
Well I guess I lied, its not all Striker class servos, I bumped the Arm servos up to Medium Striker for a bit more space a little more damage.
2d Buy armour
Not much to do here, its Striker class (3 CP) alpha tupe (x1.25) armour on all servos.
3. Choose your weapons
3a Build Weapons
Mjolner
Along with the spear the Mjolner forms the Ceorls main armament. It’s a heavy duty high damage projectile weapon.
So 6 Kills (6 CP and gives Range 7) at +0 Accuracy (x1.0). I want it to be semi-automatic so that means it needs a Burst Value, I’m going to give it a Burst Value of 3 (x2.0). Which would give us a total cost of 12 CP. Which is a little high, so I’ll drop the damage down to 5 Kills (which drops the range to 6 and the price to 10). It also means that it’ll take 10 spaces so the Ceorl will have to use it two handed. Actually thats when its empty, while the space ammo takes up is small its enough to push it above ten, so I’m going to add one level of space efficiency reducing its space to 9 and increasing its cost to 10.5.
For ammo I’m going to stick with the basic high explosive ammo in 20 shot clips, these clips would take up 2.1 spaces which is too much for a mech this size so I’m going to throw some space efficiency on that to reduce it down to 0.1.
Spear
The Ceorls main melee armament. It’s generally used in hand to hand combat as opposed to as a projectile weapon, though it can be thrown if the pilot wishes.
It needs to do a decent amount of damage so lets say 6 Kills (3 CP) at +0 Accuracy (x1.0) and the Thrown attribute (x1.2) for a total cost of 3.6
Scramseax
The Ceorl’s side-arm the Scramseax is somewhere between a large knife and a sword. Unlike the spear and the Mjolner, which have a fairly homogenous appearance and form, the scramseax is usually a custom and highly decorated blade. They come in a wide range of shapes and sizes but are used either to finish off a damaged opponent, as a last resort or as an alternate melee weapon depending on their size and their users skill. The longer blades are referred to as langseax while the the shorter versions are hadseax. I’m going to create one of each here.
The hadseax doesnt do a lot of damage but its fairly fast, so thats 2 Kills (1 CP) at +0 Accuracy (x1.0) and Quick (x2) for a total cost of 2 CP.
The langseax is more like a sword/machete, lets say 4 Kills (2 CP) at +0 Accuracy for a total cost of 2 CP.
3b Do they fit / 3c Ammo
All the weapons fit, though the Mjolner will need to be wielded with two hands. I also took care of ammo above.
4. Consider Shields
No shields in Valhalla
5. Buy Crew and Sensors
Basic cockpit with room for one passenger and a basic sensor suite sets us back 3 CP.
6. Buy other additive systems
Not much to do here, no EW, no escape pod (just the default ejection mechanism) which leaves just a Liftwire (0.3 CP)
7. Figure base weight / 8. Weight efficiency
It’s base weight is 31.5, heavy enough in real world terms but fairly light compared to the KA’s we’ve seen so far. While it is quite light knocking it down to
9. Flight and other propulsion systems / 10. Figure Base Cost
No special propulsion systems and at this point the base cost is 72.6, 78.6 with weight efficiency included. This is nicely below our budget of 100 CP. Though Thought Control and Techno-Organics will almost certainly push it above that threshold. Thats not too much of a problem though as more or less all Armour’s in this setting have similar benefits.
11. Choose multiplier systems
11a. Choose powerplant / 11b. Buy cockpit controls / 11c. Maneuver Verniers / 11d. Environment protection / 11e. Transformers and Combiners
Like most Armours its going to use a standard powerplant. I was toying with the idea of giving it arctic environmental protection but ultimately decided against it. Possibly I’ll add it on at some point to create a Ceorl derivative. None of other stuff is applicable either.
11f. Other multiplier systems
First of all is our old friend Thought Control (x0.5), secondly we have Techno Organics and Regeneration (for a total of x0.67). The SA’s are technically living organisms after all (it strikes me now that I may make them semi sentient and home to their pilots ancestors – or maybe not, it feels a bit hokey).
12. Calculate your mechas multiplied cost
As expected this pushed the Ceorl above the prospective 100 CP budget, coming in at 163.5 CP
13. Overview Mecha / 14. Figure stats / 15. Buy command armour
Well I dont think theres any changes I want/need to make to the Ceorl at this point. After calculating the stats its clear that the Ceorl is both pretty fast and remarkably maneuverable. It probably wont handle big hits well, but its still a threat as it deals out significant damage and if given time to run away can regenerate damage to its servos and weapons (thought not its armour).
I’d planned to buy command armour but its already a good bit over budget and the only reason I wanted CA on it was to make it a bit more durable. I think the techno-organic regeneration should take care of that. So I’ll save CA for more powerful Saxon units.
16. Scale as appropriate / 17. Remotes / 18. Finishing touches
No need for scaling and no remotes. In terms of finishing touches I just realised that I forgot to account for the standard Saxon “Ninja Leaping” ability I want their Armour’s to have. Ninja Leaping is a multiplier system that costs x0.05 per +1 Hex Leap and takes up 1 leg space per +1 hex leap. I want it to be able to jump 3 hexes per leap so applying that multiplier gives a final cost of 174 CP
Oegn
1. Concept
The Oegn is more or less a superior version of the Ceorl. It’s commonly used only by members of the Ethling caste, Thane’s and Jarls (whereas the Ceorl is used by freemen/karls, particularly skilled/trustworthy thralls and poorer thanes). While it generally requires a number of Ceorl’s to threaten a KA the Oegn can often be a decent one on one match.
2. Construct a Frame
2a Choose Body Form / 2b Buy Servos / 2c Wheels and Treads / 2d Buy armour
As always, humanoid body form and no wheels or treads. The Oegn is tougher than the Ceorl but still not quite as tough as your average KA, as such its got a bit of a mixture of servo types:
Servo Class Cost/Space/Kills Torso Servo Medium Striker 8 Head Servo Medium Striker 4 Right Arm Servo Heavy Striker 6 Left Arm Servo Heavy Striker 6 Right Leg Servo Striker 4 Left Leg Servo Striker 4
Armour is Medium Striker (4 CP) Alpha type (x1.25) on every servo
3. Choose your weapons
3a Build Weapons / 3b Do they fit / 3c Ammo
The Oegen is armed with essentially upgraded versions of the Ceorl’s armament.
Mjolner Exceed
The Mjolner Exceed is only slightly more powerful than the basic Mjolner, its power comes from its increased versatility as the Mjolner Exceed can handle more than just the standard high explosive ammo.
So its Damage 6 (6 CP / Range 7), at +0 Accuracy (x1.0) with a Burst value of 3 (x2.0) its a little too big at the moment so I’m going to add Space Efficiency 4, this gives us a final size of 8 and price of 14 CP.
We also have to factor in the cost and size of our ammo clip, a clip of standard ammo costs 3.8 CP (and takes up 0.8 due to space efficiency. The Mjolner Exceed also fires three other types of ammo, Modi, Magni and Sifjar ammo to be exact. Or to put it in less mythological terms Modi=Tracers(x3.0),Magni=Armour Pierceing(x4.0) and Sifjar=Entangling(x3.0). They have the same space efficiency and size as the standard 20 round clips, so they take up 0.8 spaces each. However the cost is more than a little higher at Modi/Sifjar (9.4 CP) and Magni (12.2 CP)
Gungnir (v. Ivaldi)
A custom spear unique to the Oegen Armour the Gungnir (version Ivaldi) is a powerful weapon in its own right, buts its true menace lies in its ability to channel huge bolts of lightning directly through enemy pilots!
So thats 6 Kills (3 CP) at +0 Accuracy (x1.0), with the Thrown (x1.2) and Shock (x3.0) modifiers for a total cost and space of 10.8. Which means the Oegn will have to use it two handed. But as it doesnt need to other hand for anything else thats fine.
War Langseax
A superior version of the common langseax found on the Ceorl. 5 Kills (2.5 CP) and +0 accuracy (x1.0)
Well thats the weapons done and boy are they a tad expensive, arond 65 CP in total, almost half again the price of the unit. The majority of that is made up by the ammo costs. Which seems excessive but the ammo is pretty nasty stuff.
4. Consider Shields / 5. Buy Crew and Sensors / 6. Buy other additive systems
We shall not consider shield. Crew and sensors are straight forward, cockpit in the torso, one extra passenger space, and the medium striker sensor suite. No Electronic Warfare or ECM/ECCM stuff. As well as the Liftwire the Oegn also gets an Ejection Seat (1 CP) because we care a bit more about our Oegn pilots.
7. Figure base weight / 8. Weight efficiency / 9. Flight and other propulsion systems / 10. Figure Base Cost
No fuel to worry about so at the moment our base weight is 41 Ton, I want to push that down a bit, below 39 to be exact (in order to get into a lower weight category). So thats 3 levels of Weight Efficiency, which costs us 6 CP. No propulsion systems means that our base cost is 134.4, or 140.4 if we add in the cost of the weight efficiency.
11. Choose multiplier systems
11a. Choose powerplant / 11b. Buy cockpit controls / 11c. Maneuver Verniers / 11d. Environment protection / 11e. Transformers and Combiners / 11f. Other multiplier systems
A standard “fusion” powerplant, no need for cockpit controls, no maneuver verniers, no envrionment protection, no transformers in digusie or otherwise and no combining. Which brings us to our standard suite of Saxon Multipliers: Thought Control (x0.5), Techno Organic Regeneration (x0.67) and a 3 Hex Ninja Leaping ability (x0.15).
12. Calculate your mechas multiplied cost / 13. Overview Mecha / 14. Figure stats
Well our multiplied cost is 311.8, 317.9 with weight efficiency taken into account. Which is about 18 CP more expensive than our humble old Sweord KA. Which is unfortunate as the Oegn is supposed to be a little inferior to the Sweord. And the Oegn isnt even finished yet, theres still some command armour to add on. What this means is that I’m going to need to go back and tweak the Sweord’s design a bit. I dont really mind as I’ve got a better handle on how to design stuff over the last week or two. Depending on how the special Saxon units (the Berserker and the Ettin) turn out I might also need to take another look at the Pendragon. But we’ll see when the time comes. I’ve updated the excel sheet I was using so it now calculates stats correctly.
15. Buy command armour
Command armour (CA) is a second layer of armour which provides additional stopping power and spaces for mounting whatever you may feel like. It’s also a little fiddly as it uses a fractional B-MOD (Balance Modifier) system to determine how much it interferes with the units MA and MV. You can also buy off the penalty with special CA balance verniers
15a. Buy command armour systems / 15b. Determine stats / 15c. Calculate mechas new stats
There are different types of CA depending on the location its going on (Torso/Limbs/Other). Looking at the picture I’m using for the Oegn it looks like the legs and the shoulders/arms have additional armour. So theyre the only locations Im going to buy armour for. Going to stick with the same type of armour as the basic unit so thats Medium Striker Class armour wich provides 4 extra spaces, 2 stopping power, has a B-MOD of 0.1 (which I’m going to buy off at the cost of -2 spaces and 2 CP). The armour will be alpha type (4.5 CP / servo). So thats a total cost of 6.5 CP / Servo. This adds an extra 26 CP to the cost and 4 ton to the weight, which pushes us up to high so thats another 8 CP of Weight Efficiency
16. Scale as appropriate / 17. Remotes / 18. Finishing touches
No scales, no remotes and really no finishing touches. In the end the Oegn cost 385.8 CP. Which is a fucking ridiculoud amount, considering the Pendragon only cost around 50 CP more and is supposed to be the doggiest of Armour bollocks. So I think I’m going to call this the Oegn – Beowulf Variant, only the best thanes, probably the High Kings Huscarls, will be rocking around in this bad boy. The Oegn – Standard V, will loose the Command Armour (-34 CP), it will only have standard and Modi ammo (-25.4 CP). This brings the cost for the Oegn Standard V down to 274.88 which is more in line with where I want it to be.