Sitting perfectly between the Warhawk and Executioner, at 90 tons the HGN-IIC will bring something new to the Clan's Assault stable since it has the freedom of IS' construction rules. It can also equip (3) Jump Jets which will augment its somewhat hampered mobility because of the slow speed (but still decent for an Assault with XL 325 at 64.3 kph tweaked).
First, some basic stats with an XL 325 equipped (free tonnage/free crit):
- Standard: 45/43
- Endo: 49/36
- Endo+Ferro: 52/29
I rounded up the numbers for easy viewing!
The "basic" or "Prime" variant has 1B, 3E, and 3M which is perhaps one of the most flexible among her sisters. A sample loadout (from now on all of them has XL 325):
HGN-IIC "t3h Meta":- Endo
- 1x cGauss on RA with 4 tons of ammo (16 tons, 10 crits)
- 3x cLPL on LT (18 tons, 6 crits)
- 1x TC1 (1 tons, 1 crit)
- 8x DHS (8 tons, 16 crits)
- 3x JJs (6 tons, 3 crits)
- Total = 49 tons, 36 crits
We skip the A-variant and jump straight to the B because it has 4M which can potentially be an alternative to the WHK as a missile boat. Not having to carry 10 fixed DHS can create a first to be seen build such as:
HGN-IIC-B "Not your typical LRM boat ":- Endo
- 4x cLRM15+A on RT, LA with 8 tons of ammo (26 tons, 20 crits)
- 1x cGauss on RA with 3 tons of ammo (15 tons, 9 crits)
- 1x cMPL on LT (2 tons, 1 crit)
- 1x cTAG on LT (1 ton, 1 crit)
- 3x JJs (6 tons, 3 crits)
- Total = 50 tons, 34 crits
Alternatively, you can swap the cMPL and TAG with 2x cERML and a cAP, or take a cERLL with TAG but you have to bring 1 JJ less.
Moving on to the "P2playearly" variant, the:
HGN-IIC-C "Not yet a Whale":- Endo
- 2x cUAC/10 on RA with 6 tons of ammo (26 tons, 14 crits)
- 2x cERLL on LT (8 tons, 2 crits)
- 1x cERML on LT (1 tons, 1 crit)
- 8x DHS (8 tons, 16 crits)
- 3x JJs (6 tons, 3 crits)
- Total = 49 tons, 36 crits
I'll leave the 4E+3M B-variant for now.
Overall, the IIC Highlander gains far better flexibility compared to her IS sister thanks to Clan scientists who gave her ClanTech
TM. Most importantly, she can now mount adequate numbers of JJs for jumping without worrying about her firepower!
Since the arrival of EXE, Mr. IS Highlander is even more sad now.
EDIT: this is assuming that the IICs have floating or dynamic structure/armor slots like IS 'Mechs.