BattleMech Technical Readout
Name/Model: Marauder II MAD-3E
Designer: Castro
Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology: Inner Sphere (Mixed)
Technology Rating: F
Tonnage: 100
Role: Juggernaut
Configuration: Biped BattleMech
Era/Year: Dark Age / 3150
Rules (Current): Advanced
Rules (Era): Advanced
Rules (Year): Advanced
Total Cost: 11,230,000 C-Bills
Battle Value: 2,663
Chassis: GM Marauder II
Power Plant: GM 300 300
Walking Speed: 32.4 kph
Maximum Speed: 54 kph
Jump Jets: Chilton 600
Jump Capacity: 90 meters
Armor: Valiant Lamellor with CASE II
Armament:
2 Kolibri Delta Series Large Pulse Lasers (C)
1 ChisComp 87 Large Re-engineered Laser
4 Martell Medium Lasers
1 Shield 3 Anti-Missile System (C)
4 ChisComp 2000 ER Small Lasers
Manufacturer: General Motors
Primary Factory: Kathil
Communications: Dalban Micronics with ECM Suite
Targeting & Tracking: Dalban HiRez II with Light Active Probe
================================================================================================
Overview:
First built in 3012, the Marauder II is a successful attempt to take the firepower of the
Marauder and combine it with the reliability and ruggedness of an assault chassis.
In 3010 officers of the famous Wolf's Dragoons mercenary unit contracted with Blackwell
Industries of New Valencia on the project of modifying the highly successful 75-ton Marauder
into a 100-ton assault 'Mech. Working from existing plans the design phase proved to be very
short, the process of reinforcing the Marauder chassis turned out to be easier than
expected, enhanced by the removal of the finicky and temperamental General Motors Whirlwind
Autocannon for a much simpler Large Laser. First appearing with the famous Zeta Battalion
before spreading to Alpha Regiment, the Dragoons' enemies soon learned to fear the
appearance of Marauder IIs as foreshadowing a major advance, as for the remainder of the
Third Succession War it remained the exclusive property of the mysterious Dragoons.
This changed after the Fourth Succession War when Colonel Jaime Wolf authorized Blackwell to
increase production and allow outside buyers access, on the provision that each sale had to
be approved by the Dragoons. Now spreading in limited numbers, the largest buyer outside the
Dragoons would be the Miller's Marauders mercenary unit, famed for its almost exclusive use
of the Marauder chassis and the secret loan of its DropShips to Zeta Battalion for their
climactic rescue of the rest of the Dragoons on Crossing. When new unit commander Major
Susan Barber expressed interest in the Marauder II, Colonel Wolf gave Blackwell the go-ahead
to supply her with all she needed, by the Clan Invasion the now renamed Barber's Marauder II
would boast almost a regiment's worth of the fearsome assault 'Mech.
Though Barber's Marauder II would help drive the considerable interest and demand for the
powerful assault 'Mech, they would also damage its seeming aura of invincibility following
their ignoble destruction by Clan Jade Falcon on Koniz in June 3064. Seeking to rekindle
interest in their flagship 'Mech following its disastrous showing on Koniz, GM/Blackwell
noted the Vicore Industries triggered refresh of "classic" designs to develop a more
powerful and visually refreshed model. The resulting MAD-4S variant was the first widely
available Marauder II, Wolf's Dragoons' easing of sale restrictions partly motivated by
profit but also as a means to punish the Lyran Alliance for the theft of the Blackwell
developed light fusion engine, as of 3067 selling the 'Mech to all interested parties save
those the Dragoons were fighting against in the Chaos March; the Word of Blake and the
members of Trinity Alliance.
The demand for the Marauder II would only increase in the Jihad following the Blakist
destruction of GM and Blackwell's production facilities for the 'Mech as part of their
vendetta against the Wolf's Dragoons, with many salvaged examples in use among the nations
of the Inner Sphere in a large number of variations following the Blakists' fall, the most
notable being the MAD-6D developed by the Federated Suns and shared with the Republic of the
Sphere.
As the Dragoons' Marauder II factory on Outreach didn't survive the Jihad, Irian BattleMechs
Unlimited purchased the design plans from the Dragoons and, after retooling their Awesome
lines on Irian, began producing the newly acquired design. During the Dark Age Era, the
Republic of the Sphere ordered Irian to shut down many of their 'Mech production lines,
including the Marauder II - however, they never ceased producing them.
Capabilities:
The Marauder II 3E was introduced around 3145, specially as a contender and competitor
design with the newly released Marauder II 10D. With the proliferation of Clan technology
throughout the Inner Sphere, the 3E features both a mix of Clan and Inner Sphere Technology
to aid its pilots in battle. Furthermore - the designers of this variant sought to create a
mech that has a full complement of energy weapons - ergo allowing the mech to be deployed in
prolonged campaigns without the need to be resupplied with ammunition.
Starting off with the chassis - the Marauder II 3E sports a standard fusion engine and
standard external and internal armour. This was done for the very singular purpose of
keeping relative costs down, as well as making the mech entirely reliable on standard
equipment. This Marauder II - despite being 100 tons and fully armored - is one of the
cheaper Marauder II's in production - with a relative cost of 11.2 million C-bills; a very
affordable mech for any one of the Great Houses or Mercenary commanders looking for a
command mech to pilot. Internally, most of the cost is devoted to the 20 Inner Sphere double
head sinks located in the engine as well as throughout the chassis. While this keeps the
mech relatively cool from most of its weapon fire, it is slightly expensive to replace if an
enemy weapon takes out one of the double heat sinks during combat. In terms of mobility, the
Marauder II 3E retains its three Jump Jets in its torso that it is almost always known for.
For weapon and electronic systems, starting with Clan technology, this variant mounts a pair
of Clan Large Pulse Lasers in either arm, providing accurate firepower from quite a distance
away. Internally, the Marauder II 3E also contains both a Clan ECM and a Clan Light Active
Probe. This allows the mech (and its lance) to not only be protected by a disruptive ECM
bubble, but, also gather targeting data through the integrated Active Probe. However, that
is the extent of its Clan technology usage - as again, the main goal of the design was to be
energy independent AND relatively cheap to sell as an assault mech.
As for the Marauder II's Inner Sphere weapons and equipment, the mech has a complement of
four Martell Medium Lasers located throughout its arms and torso. The Mech further has a
quartet of ER Small Lasers - all located in the either of the upper portions of the leg
actuator. While the ER Small Lasers not super useful in mech-to-mech combat, they provided
the Marauder II with some moderate short-range firepower to deter infantry in engaging in
anti-mech attacks. This mech also features an experimental new weapon in the weapon housing
of its right torso - the Re-Engineered Large Laser, which provided the Marauder II 3E
further offensive power against the newer Hardened and Reflective Armour that was becoming
all too prevalent in the ilClan era.
Initially not included in the original design, engineers were also able to fit a Clan
Shield-3 Anti-Missile System on the left torso, which supplemented the electronic defenses
of the Clan ECM by actively shooting down any incoming missile weaponry. While the bin of
ammunition seemed to go against the original design of the mech - which was to be completely
ammunition independent - the singular bin of ammo was fortified and secured away deep in the
internals of the chassis, as well as encased in CASE II in order to deter any ammunition
explosion from occurring. What made the Shield Anti-Missile system even more useful was that
it was able to "hot-swap" its barrels - making it easy to field repair and change the
caliber of the anti-missile system on the fly. Some desperate pilots would even -
erroneously - shove machine gun caliber ammunition in there in an attempt to modify the
Anti-Missile system into a "defacto" Machine Gun to dissuade any infantry from nearing the
chassis; however, this would almost always jam the system up, if not also voiding any
warranty on said product.
While the mixture of Clan and Inner sphere weaponry and equipment did increase the cost of
this Marauder II's production, they also provided the perfect defensive and offensive
capabilities that suitably gave the Marauder II 3E its command mech status among many
MechWarrior's.
Deployment:
While currently limited, the Marauder II 3E experienced most of its combat on the Periphery
of the Free Worlds League. Its sole usage of energy weapons in lieu of ammunition made it a
favorite among Mechwarrior pilots or mercenary companies that spent many months waiting for
resupply or reinforcements. Its chassis being built on standard parts and majority easy to
find medium lasers also made it a very reliable and repairable mech - which cut costs down
for the shrewd company commander. Further, its ability to "hot-swap" the anti-missile system
barrel quickly also allowed pilots to sometimes feed the system with less than reliable
ammunition or higher calibers in lieu of using the normal ammunition - despite warnings that
doing so would void the warranty of the system.
Sadly, The Marauder II 3E was not without its flaws, potent though it was. While there are
reports of the vast amount of energy weapons located throughout the chassis sometimes
creating "gremlins" within the targeting software - specifically when firing the
experimental Re-Engineered Large Laser - those reports are currently unverified and any
attempt to reach GM are usually forwarded to their legal team. In addition to the reports of
electronic disturbances whilst firing its weapons; the rotation rings connecting the chassis
with the leg assemblies had reports of a detrimental weak point in the design due to the
mounted ER Small Lasers that were placed there. However, many Marauder II pilots took to
mounting improvised armoring around these points, or purchased the "Extended Armour Set"
from GM, in an attempt to protect these vulnerabilities. Much like evert single Marauder II
design, the powerful HiRez tracking system, located in the forward section of the 'Mech, was
also known for impeding the pilot's field of view.
Despite these reports of electronic disturbances and slight armour flaws, the Marauder II 3E
saw great success in its initial Q1 sales for GM, prompting many of the decision makers
within GM to begin rolling these new designs off the production floor and into the
battlefield - much to the glee of investors and stock holders.
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Equipment Mass
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Internal Structure: Standard 10.00
Engine: 300 Fusion 19.00
Walking MP: 3
Running MP: 5
Jumping MP: 3
Heat Sinks (Double): 20 [40] 10.00
Gyro: Standard 3.00
Cockpit: Standard 3.00
Armor Factor: 307 19.50
Type: Standard
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Head: 3 9
Center Torso: 31 46
Center Torso (rear): 16
R/L Torso: 21 32
R/L Torso (rear): 10
R/L Arm: 17 34
R/L Leg: 21 42
================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage
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Medium Laser H 1 1.00
Jump Jet CT 1 2.00
Medium Laser CT 1 1.00
Jump Jet RT 1 2.00
Large Re-engineered Laser RT 5 8.00
Anti-Missile System (C) LT 1 0.50
Anti-Missile System (Ammo 24) (C) LT 1 1.00
CASE II (C) LT 1 0.50
ECM Suite (C) LT 1 1.00
Jump Jet LT 1 2.00
Light Active Probe (C) LT 1 0.50
Large Pulse Laser (C) RA 2 6.00
Medium Laser RA 1 1.00
Large Pulse Laser (C) LA 2 6.00
Medium Laser LA 1 1.00
2 ER Small Lasers RL 2 1.00
2 ER Small Lasers LL 2 1.00
================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics
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Point Value (PV): 62
TP: BM, SZ: 4, TMM: 1, MV: 6"j
Damage: (S) 6 / (M) 6 / (L) 3, OV: 1
Armor (A): 10, Structure (S): 8
Specials: AMS, CASEII, ECM, LPRB, RCN
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