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                 BattleMech Technical Readout

Name/Model:         Centurion CN8-A
Designer:           IronRaven Special Projects Group
Source(s):          Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology:         Inner Sphere
Technology Rating:  E
Tonnage:            50
Configuration:      Biped BattleMech
Era/Year:           Star League / 2780
Rules (Current):    Standard
Rules (Era):        Standard
Rules (Year):       Standard
Total Cost:         9,615,000 C-Bills
Battle Value:       1,499

Chassis:              Corean Model K6 Endo Steel
Power Plant:          Vlar 300 XL
Walking Speed:        64.8 kph  
Maximum Speed:        97.2 kph  
Jump Jets:            None
    Jump Capacity:    None
Armor:                Starshield with CASE
Armament:             
    1 ER PPC
    1 LRM 15 w/ Artemis IV FCS
    3 Medium Lasers
    1 Small Pulse Laser
Manufacturer:         Corean Enterprises
    Primary Factory:  Unknown
Communications:       Corean Transband-J9
Targeting & Tracking: Corean B-Tech

================================================================================================
Overview:
    While never made, not even as prototype, This Old Mech this month is going to be about the
    very first Centurion. This article is a celebration of LosTech, but it is an interesting
    mech. We all have heard the story of how the Centurion was intended to be the companion of
    the Trebuchet, and most of us have scratched our heads. But the Centurion in question is not
    the CN9-A as we all assume, nor was to be the escort of the TBT-5N Trebuchet, which were
    introduced at the outbreak of the Succession Wars. Instead, the CN8-A was supposed to
    be the partner of the the Civil War-era TBT-3C
    
    We recently were unable to uncover a trove of Corean internal documents about these original
    models. The SLDF bought the Centurion for the fight to Terra, and bought all that they could
    for fire support lances and companies. And while there was a need for a bodyguard mech to be
    put into such units, they already had strong
    candidates like the Griffin and Wolverine and Shadowhawk. And plenty of good enough ones
    like the Hoplite. This lead to minimal immediate interest on their part in the Centurion.
    With Corean's lines dedicated to the TBT-3C, the CN8-A was given a classification best
    described as "it's nice, maybe in a few years, but not right now." When "not right now"
    turned into "now", Kerensky's SLDF and Corean's ability to produce endosteel chassises had
    been lost. Instead, the simplified
    models that had been designed as lower cost "export" models for the Great Houses and
    mercenaries were put into production in 2799 and 2801 respectively.
    
    So what would an advanced technology Centurion have looked like? Intended to be produced
    only meters away from the Trebuchet, they would have started life together, fraternal twins.
    While we can no longer make the components, we can read their specs.
    
    First would have been the endosteel chassis. Significantly bulkier but half the weight,
    these alloys are easiest fabricated in zero-gee. By being so much lighter, it opens up
    certain option for the rest of the mech. The next step would have been a Vlar 300XL engine.
    While more
    expensive and vulnerable than the Nissan 200 we're all familiar with, it would have also
    boosted the top speed of the Centurion by 50%. This engine was also selected for the
    Trebuchet. Packed with ten of the high efficiency heat sinks of the era for either machine,
    there are notes that suggested that Corean had planned on offering a combined logistics
    package to the SLDF, including the common engine, prepacked with heatsinks and suitable for
    either one. We see this today, as the mounting harness for the engines of Centurion and
    Trebuchet are the same. Imagine an engine, with all it's heatsinks already integrated and
    balanced, along with a gyro packed in the same crate. With mostly the same cockpit, life
    support, communications and targeting system, the commonality would have been very efficient
    and we probably would
    have seen the two mechs fielded together.
    
    The weapons fit for this Centurion would have been much like what see today, with a direct
    fire weapon, some medium lasers and an LRM rack. For the LRMs, a LRM-15 rack would have been
    in the right torso, along with an Artemis IV fire control system. In the left torso, it
    would be
    fed with two tons of ammunition in a cellular secure ammo tank. This would have allowed the
    Centurion to match the Trebuchet shot for shot in indirect and long-range harrasing fire,
    and if the Artemis system was never adapted to specialty ammo, things like flares and smoke
    are used so infrequently that it probably wouldn't have mattered. The paired front and back
    medium lasers we're accustomed to are found in the center torso, while a third is mounted in
    the left arm for redundancy.
    
    For the main gun, it seems that originally it had been suggested that it mount a Lubian
    LB10-X autocannon. But as anyone who has ever fought a Centurion knows, those shells go by
    very fast. Instead, they settled on an extended range particle cannon. While perhaps not as
    well suited for anti-aircraft fire, a PPC doesn't run out of ammunition. While this would
    have made the 8-A Centurion run hot, it is not unmanageable. Especially if you don't include
    the LRM rack in "alpha strikes". Also in the right arm, the 8-A would have carried a small
    pulse laser, effectively a laser shotgun, for anti-infantry work. This combination clearly
    inspired the 9AL version of the Centurion.
    
    For protection, 10.5 tons of Starsheild would have exceeded the armor of what we generally
    consider to be the 'best in class' Hunchback. And most 60 ton mechs, for that matter. This
    Centurion would have been able to slug it out with attackers, which combined with the speed
    of the 300XL engine, this would have made it as fast as a Wasp or Stinger or Phoenix Hawk.
    So along with providing protection for Trebuchets and other fire support mechs would have
    also been able to serve as a flanker or cavalry mech supporting assault mechs.
    
    This would have been an awesome machine. We've seen people modify Centurions to carry the
    250-class engines, and Trebuchets that use 200-class ones. And in those rare moments, the
    legend of the complimentary designs, the "Corean Brothers", is true.
    
    Like so many things that were in development in the last half of the 26th Century, it's not
    with us thanks to Aramis and the Succession Wars.

================================================================================================
Equipment                                                             Mass                      
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure:                         Endo Steel                 2.50                     
Engine:                                       300 XL                   9.50                     
    Walking MP:                                 6                                               
    Running MP:                                 9                                               
    Jumping MP:                                 0                                               
Heat Sinks (Double):                         10 [20]                   0.00                     
Gyro:                                        Standard                  3.00                     
Cockpit:                                     Standard                  3.00                     
Armor Factor:                                  168                    10.50                     
    Type:                                    Standard                                           

                                    Internal         Armor     
                                    Structure        Value     
    Head:                               3              9       
    Center Torso:                      16             23       
    Center Torso (rear):                               8       
    R/L Torso:                         12             17       
    R/L Torso (rear):                                  7       
    R/L Arm:                            8             16       
    R/L Leg:                           12             24       

================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo                                       Location          Critical     Tonnage   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Medium Laser                                              CT                1          1.00             
Medium Laser                                            CT (R)              1          1.00             
CASE                                                      RT                1          0.50             
LRM 15 (Ammo 16)                                          RT                2          2.00             
LRM 15 w/ Artemis IV FCS                                  LT                3          7.00             
ER PPC                                                    RA                3          7.00             
Small Pulse Laser                                         RA                1          1.00             
Medium Laser                                              LA                1          1.00             

================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics                                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Value (PV): 37
TP: BM,  SZ: 2,  TMM: 2,  MV: 12"
Damage: (S) 3 / (M) 3 / (L) 3,  OV: 1
Armor (A): 6,  Structure (S): 2
Specials: CASE, IF1, REAR1/1/-
 
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Code Release 2.24.13.1 (2024-09-02T12:52:21-04:00)