21 replies to this topic

[InnerSphereNews]

Tue. Nov 29, 3048: Recently shipped Maulers receive their baptism of fire against Davion raid; Victory Armaments’ ER lasers peformed well.

[pinsndneedles]

Nice, new 'Mech on the menu it looks like.

[Rogal Dorn]

Confirmation of ER Large lasers at least?

[Kaemon]

News flash...news flashes are back.

[Amarus Cameron]

Kaemon, on 29 November 2011 - 11:29 AM, said:

News flash...news flashes are back.

Ok that made me chuckle

[Dlardrageth]

NewsFlash stated "ER lasers", could be any size, not necessarily large ones. Would make more sense to start with ER Sml anyway IMHO.

Hyped about getting the Mauler artwork by tomorrow eventually though.

Edited by Dlardrageth, 29 November 2011 - 12:00 PM.

[Threat Doc]

Maulers and ER Lasers, got it. I really appreciate the return of these updates.

[Alex Wolf]

For the sake of variety, I really like the ER lasers, Streak missiles and other "lostech" being made readily available. At least it should make the pining for Clan tech less prevalent (those past few MW/MC games sure spoiled us...).

Also, hooray for Mauler. That fatty is one decent machine.

Edited by Alex Wolf, 29 November 2011 - 12:05 PM.

[Rogal Dorn]

Dlardrageth, on 29 November 2011 - 11:59 AM, said:

NewsFlash stated "ER lasers", could be any size, not necessarily large ones. Would make more sense to start with ER Sml anyway IMHO.

Hyped about getting the Mauler artwork by tomorrow eventually though.

I just said large because that's what the Mauler has equipped, I'd be fine with any ER lasers (medium especially)

[Red Beard]

Dlardrageth, on 29 November 2011 - 11:59 AM, said:

Hyped about getting the Mauler artwork by tomorrow eventually though.

I would not expect a mech update tomorrow. If we DO get one, it would fall under the BONUS fragment category. Reveal Wednesday's are the fourth Wednesday's, not the fifth. Fifth Wednesday's have yet to show us what they will bring.

[Strum Wealh]

@Dlardrageth:

According to Sarna, IS ER Large Lasers were introduced in 3037, with IS ER Medium and Small Lasers being introduced in 3058, and IS ER Micro Lasers being introduced in 3060.

http://www.sarna.net...nge_Large_Laser
http://www.sarna.net...ge_Medium_Laser
http://www.sarna.net...nge_Small_Laser
http://www.sarna.net...nge_Micro_Laser

As such, for a game starting in 3049 and remaining true to the canon, the only ER lasers that the IS would have would be large lasers.
(Though, it is possible that the Devs might overrule that for gameplay purposes...)

----------

Also, an interesting note from the Mauler's Sarna page:
"In initial reports (the Technical Readout: 3050), ComStar Adept Merle Jimmus suggested that the MAL-1R Mauler was a new design being tested for production by LAW as of 3052. However, a subsequent ComStar document (the 1st Somerset Strikers sourcebook) described Adept Jimmus' earlier report as "less than accurate", leading to an internal investigation within ComStar, because the 'Mech was in truth long past its prototype stage - significant numbers had been captured by the Federated Commonwealth during theWar of 3039 already. The initial Succession Wars era version was later identified as the Daboku, predecessor to the actual Mauler."

So, is the 'Mech being referenced the actual Mauler, or the Daboku (fitted with ER Large lasers instead of the standard Large Lasers normally found on the design) being misidentified (as it apparently was in the canon)?

[Kaemon]

Strum Wealh, on 29 November 2011 - 12:19 PM, said:

@Dlardrageth:

So, is the 'Mech being referenced the actual Mauler, or the Daboku (fitted with ER Large lasers instead of the standard Large Lasers normally found on the design) being misidentified (as it apparently was in the canon)?

The result of a DCMS think tank tasked with gleaning information from the Helm Memory Core, the Daboku was unveiled in 3038 to little fanfare. A near-instant failure with flaws in almost every major system, the 'Mech was nonetheless hurried to the front lines for the War of 3039 where it became both a laughing stock and a virtual death sentence for Kuritan pilots.

Nice.

[Ghost]

Of course ISN would post deliberately-leaked intelligence for the world to see while I'm out on my lunch break!
I'd tend to agree with you guys' analysis, though. We're probably seeing the first "public" reveal of the redesigned Daboku as seen by the Davion raiders on the scene. That would probably make it the legitimate Mauler, then, seeing as it was a AFFS codename to begin with.

Trivia: The copy of the Helm Memory Core that is reported as the origin of the technologies used in the construction of the Daboku and then in turn the Mauler was delivered personally to Coordinator Takashi Kurita by Duke Hassid Ricol, on account of the "strange difficulties" people bearing the copies were said to have experienced as they attempted to spread the recovered knowledge across the Inner Sphere.

[verybad]

Rogal Dorn, on 29 November 2011 - 11:27 AM, said:

Confirmation of ER Large lasers at least?

THey were arround for a while by 3049, so they should be back in. Love the look of the Mauler, kind of a long range support assault rather than a brawler, so it will depend on the map how useful they are in a fight. It certainly seems like Maulers will be in though as this is the second time they've been mentioned I believe. Draconis Combine is certainly getting a lot of love!

[Strum Wealh]

Kaemon, on 29 November 2011 - 12:22 PM, said:

The result of a DCMS think tank tasked with gleaning information from the Helm Memory Core, the Daboku was unveiled in 3038 to little fanfare. A near-instant failure with flaws in almost every major system, the 'Mech was nonetheless hurried to the front lines for the War of 3039 where it became both a laughing stock and a virtual death sentence for Kuritan pilots.

Nice.

Yeah... I read "Victory Armaments’ ER lasers peformed well." as a quip equivalent to "Well, at least something worked."

Also, the Daboku article also states:

Quote

The Daboku is armed with two Tronel VI-X Large Lasers, two Holly LRM-10s, and four Imperator Smoothie-2 Autocannon/2s, a layout that was intended to allow the pilot to snipe at enemies from well beyond conventional ranges. Unfortunately, the housing for the Large Lasers prevents proper cooling and as a result they often overheat and short circuit theDaboku's targeting circuits. The ammunition feed for the Imperator autocannons also tends to jam, depriving the 'Mech of it's longest range weaponry. Only the Holly LRMs seem to work properly but are only equipped with a ton of ammunition each, limiting their usefeulness in a drawn out fight.

-----

Combined, these problems persuaded the DCMS to shelve the design after the conflict. It was revisited in the 3040's and thanks to a further understanding of Star League technology ultimately became the successful MAL-1R Mauler.

-----


No variants of the Daboku itself were ever manufactured. When the design had finally been refined into a worthwile BattleMech it was re-introduced as the Mauler, adopting the FedCom codename for the new design to leave the stigma behind that was associated with the Daboku.

That is, a 3048 report of "Maulers" could, conceivably, have referred to a set of "revisited"/modified-Daboku being sent on a trial/proof-of-concept run (with the data from that and other sorties being incorporated into the 3052 versions (the first "true" Maulers)).

Gives it a nice bit of backstory, yes?



EDIT: Ghost beat me to the punch...

Edited by Strum Wealh, 29 November 2011 - 12:49 PM.

[Dihm]

I love me a Mauler!

[verybad]

Think Mauller support, with 2 Dragons (a command and a regular fighter) along with a Jenner for scouting and providing indirect fire data. You got's a nice Drac Lance there!

[phalanx]

There has to be a reason why they revealed this, so we can guess that the Mauler will be in the game. More importantly, (Inner Sphere)ER Large Lasers.

verybad, on 29 November 2011 - 01:58 PM, said:

Think Mauller support, with 2 Dragons (a command and a regular fighter) along with a Jenner for scouting and providing indirect fire data. You got's a nice Drac Lance there!

I'd swap out the second Dragon for a Hunchback, to have two support mechs. Or a second Jenner if you wanna "Bring the Rain".

[VEDRFOLNIR]

ISN is back on the air! Woot!

[Alistair Steiner]

Ah, good stuff. Though I still see the ISN News Flashes as more fluff/flavor text than anything else, I certainly agree that this could potentially be a tease for both IS ER Lasers and the mean-looking Mauler. Personally, I'm not a fan of it, but hey, I'm happy with any 'Mech we get.