24 replies to this topic

[Bishop Steiner]

Up until now, Cities were generally defended by second rate mechs, often poorly designed for the role, piloted by Militia Pilots, poorly trained for it.

With the Introduction of the LWD-1G Law Dog, from Maverik Industries of Port Moseby, that all changed. Released in 3035, in the lull between Wars, the Law Dog was designed specifically to meet the demands of Garrison Forces, while freeing up other designs, like the Vulcan and Stinger, to be used in more suitable roles in main line forces.

The Law Dog is not meant to replace the Urbanmech, but to supplement it. Being about as cheap to produce, but considerably faster, the Law Dog provides the everyday all purpose versatility, to the Urbanmech's, heavy armor/heavy firepower punch.



At 20 tons, the Law dog is cheap, and easy to transport. Unlike the Urbanmech, it mounts two fully manipulable hands, and can reach speeds of almost 85 kph. Supplementing it's ground speed are three Whirlwind Series III jump jets, allowing for jumps of 90 meters. While not as heavily armored as the Urbanmech, the Law Dog does still mount a respectable 4 tons of StarGuard Lite Armor*.

In place of the large bore autocannon, and it's potential overpenetration issues, the Law Dog mounts a diverse arsenal of weaponry, to allow it to react to ANY situation it may encounter. It's primary armament are two arm mounted Sperry-Browning .20mm machine guns, and mounted right under the special 360º Vulcan Panoramic Cockpit^tm, is a Zippo Flamer, slaved to the pilot's neurohelmet, so that wherever the pilot looks, the flamer follows. In case of heavier encounters, the right should mounts a Bical Twin 75mm srm rack, capable of using anything from HEAP rockets, to smoke rounds, CS gas, fire retardant or the infamous inferno napalm rockets. And last, for truly heavy combat, is a Defiance B3M 5cm Laser**.

Low cost, speed, full hand actuator assemblies for emergency work and a diverse armament. What more could you ask for to serve all the Garrison and Militia needs of YOUR WORLD?

Call now, operators are standing by.


* For the discriminating buyer, the Law Dog "2G" is offered with new Durallex Lite FF FerroFibrous Armor, with CASE protected ammo bay. Ask for more details!

** Other loadouts are available for specific needs, like the "1GS" affectionately known as the "Bloudhound", that removes the SRM rack and it's ammunition for a Beagle Active Probe, and a rear mounted Light Laser.

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 10 February 2015 - 06:42 AM.

[Mech42Ace]

*picks up phone dials up number*
"Hello? Operator? I'll take eight; now thats what I call efficient investment!"

Nice work Bishop, I would totally pilot this mech anytime.

[Impyrium]

I sense Vulcan inspiration. Love it, 10/10 would pilot.

[Lily from animove]

ouch, as a real mech that walkign head would be an instant death invitation vs other mechs xD

but it looks cool, and the rather domelike cokcpit would allow the pilot a good overview in a battle vs other troops.

[DevlinCognito]

I like it, a lot, and as always your art does not disappoint.

One minor criticism though, it is too fast for its role. Hear me out. Being able to go that speed means it will be going that speed. Due to it fighting in cities and on paved surfaces and its likely pilots (militia) it will likely be making (and failing) plenty of piloting checks which will hurt the thin armour. The Urbie moved so slow it wasnt really an issue, and its thick armour (for its size) made it pretty much bounce (just goes to show the genius of the beloved trashcan!).

Just as a disclaimer, I remember fighting an ambush on a Steiner Assault Lance in a city long time back. One of the militia pilots supporting my lance decided to break cover early to try and turn them, he sprinted round the flank in his Clint, attempted to stop at an intersection to backshot the rear Awesome, failed his check, and skidded into a building at speed piercing his armour which touched off his ammo (there was a reason why that player was given the role of militia).

Personally I'd happily have a Lance of these to support my heavies against infantry in the open like the Fireball or Firestarter (but cheaper) or if using them for Urban Warfare, drop the speed to 60 and uparmour it.

[zagibu]

PGI should totally do an urban riot spin-off.

[Bishop Steiner]

Lily from animove, on 10 February 2015 - 03:09 AM, said:

ouch, as a real mech that walkign head would be an instant death invitation vs other mechs xD

but it looks cool, and the rather domelike cokcpit would allow the pilot a good overview in a battle vs other troops.

Space MAgic.

Pretty sure if it doesn't particularly endanger an 85 ton Assault MEch, it'll be safe on my little 20 tonner. Also, it's not designed for open field combat, if you read the OP, but patrolling congested city streets, primarily against infantry and armor, and around civilians, so pilots FoV is pretty crucial.

But that is also why despite the mech having 9 armor on the head, (the max) it also has the Negative Design Quirk "Weak Head Armor -1" so it's actual Head Armor is 8.

DevlinCognito, on 10 February 2015 - 03:54 AM, said:

I like it, a lot, and as always your art does not disappoint.

One minor criticism though, it is too fast for its role. Hear me out. Being able to go that speed means it will be going that speed. Due to it fighting in cities and on paved surfaces and its likely pilots (militia) it will likely be making (and failing) plenty of piloting checks which will hurt the thin armour. The Urbie moved so slow it wasnt really an issue, and its thick armour (for its size) made it pretty much bounce (just goes to show the genius of the beloved trashcan!).

Just as a disclaimer, I remember fighting an ambush on a Steiner Assault Lance in a city long time back. One of the militia pilots supporting my lance decided to break cover early to try and turn them, he sprinted round the flank in his Clint, attempted to stop at an intersection to backshot the rear Awesome, failed his check, and skidded into a building at speed piercing his armour which touched off his ammo (there was a reason why that player was given the role of militia).

Personally I'd happily have a Lance of these to support my heavies against infantry in the open like the Fireball or Firestarter (but cheaper) or if using them for Urban Warfare, drop the speed to 60 and uparmour it.

Having the ability to go faster does not mean one has to. That's like blaming a person crashing a Lambo because it can go fast...instead of the driver getting himself over his head. And a unit only faces skidding while running (and turning, and then moving further, technically), and up to 7 with only a +1. or the 8 with a +2, which is largely manageable with the "Easy to Pilot" design quirk, representing the large 4 toed footpads, low center of gravity and full humanoid arms which inherently provide better balance.

And even if it mostly sticks to walking, it can cover 5 hexes for no skidding check at all, which is still moving 22 kph (or 2 hexes per turn over the Urbie's Flank Speed) faster, with the ability to go almost 3 times faster on straightaways and if needed to deploy across town.

Lastly, it is less than a half ton under max armor for a 20 ton mech, so up armoring it is not that important. And dropping it to 64 kph would mean it needs to run more often, setting itself up to face MORE piloting checks, when at the current 5/8 movement I can walk almost as fast, with no checks at all.

[DevlinCognito]

Nice, good quirks as well.

I'm not disparaging the Lawdog, but like I say, seen green pilots do silly things to try and wring out every last +1 so I do have a bias.

I'm actually quite tempted to raid by bits box and see if I can bash one together.

[Bishop Steiner]

AUSwarrior24, on 10 February 2015 - 02:28 AM, said:

I sense Vulcan inspiration. Love it, 10/10 would pilot.

was the "360º Vulcan Panoramic Cockpit^tm" something of a giveaway?

A little fluff history. After redesigning the Vulcan, and spending so much time creating the "perfect urban piloting sphere" with the immense visibility and gimbal mounted command couch, Maverik Industries were a little disappointed with the relatively low volume of Vulcans being sold (which led to them redesigning it's payload) which was when it was decided to make a second mech built around that cockpit design. Making one that would compliment the Vulcans and Urbanmechs they already sold just seemed the logical direction, as they already had gained a reputation in Urban Defense circles.

And like all engineers, they felt that they had come up with the perfect design, in their cockpit, and that the visibility more than compensated for the slightly weakened armor.

[Bishop Steiner]

DevlinCognito, on 10 February 2015 - 07:21 AM, said:

Nice, good quirks as well.

I'm not disparaging the Lawdog, but like I say, seen green pilots do silly things to try and wring out every last +1 so I do have a bias.

I'm actually quite tempted to raid by bits box and see if I can bash one together.

That'd be cool to see.

Didn't take it as a bash, either, just explaining my thought process. I tend to be very deliberate in things, from scale to reasons why I add a specific feature. And sometimes they are not the "best" intentionally, because it adds to the fluff.

I actually generally detest "perfect" mechs in my TT Games, and love playing down and dirty underdog campaigns, probably another reason I prefer the pre Clans era so heavily.

Though a Jihad campaign might capture some of that feel. My favorite was running Fall of Star LEague, and Second Succession War Campaigns, where players might have SLDF Mechs, but can't really fix them, so more than most campaigns, really have to weigh the value of retreat to preserve their forces. Lose that Gauss Rifle on your Highlander, and you don't get a replacement! (Though one aspect was playing Scavenger Hunts, to try to secure the last dribbles of lostech)

[DevlinCognito]

Ah sorry, I came here for some light relief after reading the nSL thread. I guess the toxicity in there got to me.

A man after my own heart! I always preferred using the mech quirks, even if it meant my Javelins keep falling due to being overbalanced.

[Lily from animove]

Bishop Steiner, on 10 February 2015 - 06:38 AM, said:

Space MAgic.

Pretty sure if it doesn't particularly endanger an 85 ton Assault MEch, it'll be safe on my little 20 tonner. Also, it's not designed for open field combat, if you read the OP, but patrolling congested city streets, primarily against infantry and armor, and around civilians, so pilots FoV is pretty crucial.

But that is also why despite the mech having 9 armor on the head, (the max) it also has the Negative Design Quirk "Weak Head Armor -1" so it's actual Head Armor is 8.

Well, lets be honest BT never took true design into account, they had their TT rules making mechs working unified. And so designs got wild and free without ever questioning suicidal or nonsense shapes.I mean I could make a walkiing cockpit with tiny legs and arms and in BT it would not differ.

This does however not translate into MWO. See the difference between SCR and NVA, between awesome and awful.
And MWO is also already cheating about Head hitboxes. and why? because TT designs, as beautiful, or ugly they may have been are not working in a true human aim related game. And s I really would like to see more mechdesigns on a more "realistic" combat suited design.

the cockpit you made reminds me of good old times

[GonaDie]

LEGO!

[Max OConnor]

Love the design, and your thought process Bishop. I can't wait to see the fully rendered and colored version. I'll be writing one of these up for my TT games to be sure. I love Urban units.

[Bill Bullet]

Excellent for handling those pesky riots when CapCons can't appreciate their new found liberties under the Federated CommonWealth

[Bishop Steiner]

maxoconnor, on 11 February 2015 - 07:08 AM, said:

Love the design, and your thought process Bishop. I can't wait to see the fully rendered and colored version. I'll be writing one of these up for my TT games to be sure. I love Urban units.

can shoot you the full stats if you like

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 11 February 2015 - 07:00 PM.

[Lily from animove]

Bishop Steiner, on 11 February 2015 - 06:17 PM, said:

can shoot you the full stats if you like

Am I using this pae wrong? is there some hiden zoom feature? but all i can see is quite blurry and superhard to read.

[Bishop Steiner]

Lily from animove, on 12 February 2015 - 07:45 AM, said:

Am I using this pae wrong? is there some hiden zoom feature? but all i can see is quite blurry and superhard to read.

when I click on the picture it takes me to photobucket
http://i1280.photobu...zpssa7rb4kb.png

Edited by Bishop Steiner, 12 February 2015 - 07:55 AM.

[Lily from animove]

Bishop Steiner, on 12 February 2015 - 07:55 AM, said:

when I click on the picture it takes me to photobucket
http://i1280.photobu...zpssa7rb4kb.png

well but this is actually hard to read, its more guessing by the shape of the latters than actually true reading.

[Odanan]

Very interesting! Loved the panoramic cockpit!

Can I order the "K9" variant?