April, 3044
“Thank you. I’m glad to be here at the…Hobbyist Battlemech Society. Please forgive me for my lack of visual aids, but as many of you know I’ve been traveling quite a bit to demonstrate these new systems. I believe that these systems will, if they receive sufficient interest and investment, can create a new generation of battlemechs, a generation in which each unit can perform the roles of multiple mechs, perhaps every other ‘mech.
“Because this hotel–this venue–doesn’t have the facilities to demonstrate the prototypes we’ve created, I only came here with a visual demonstration. Uh, unfortunately, I believe that my data was corrupted on the way over.
“So let me do this with just my words. A lance of Vindicators today will be a lance of Vindicators tomorrow. With these new systems, these Everymechs could act as a lance of Catapults, a lance of Spiders, or even a lance of Atlases.
“These three systems all share similar basic engineering principles…”
Primitive Omnimechs
When the Inner Sphere encountered omnimechs in 3050, there had been very little like them. Yes, omnitechnology was based on the Mercury, but the Inner Sphere didn’t have anything like it. Even if they had, it wouldn’t have been the system which allowed almost unrestricted swapping of omnipods, drastically reduced repair costs, and free carry weight for battle armor. Sure it costs more C-Bills which players (and now the setting) barely use and it can’t mount actuators on a hand with a big gun, but they’re a rare technology in Battletech that’s almost 100% upside.
What if there were a different technology which granted similar abilities? What if they were in early development before the Clans invaded, but were shelved with the introduction of a strictly better system? What if these primitive omnimechs–Everymechs–were more distinctive and restricted? What if there was bad omnitech?
Hardpoints
A core concept for these different omnimechs is the hardpoint. Hardpoints are a collection of contiguous critical slots which have restrictions on the pods which can be mounted in them.
Singular Equipment Limitation
Unless otherwise stated, hardpoints can only carry one piece of equipment. Ammunition for ammunition-fed weapons and assistive equipment (such as Artemis IV systems and Targeting Computers) can share a hardpoint with one of the pieces of equipment they assist, provided they otherwise meet the restrictions of the hardpoint.
A hardpoint can be shared across locations for equipment, like AC/20s and Engines, which can be shared across locations. That shared hardpoint can still only carry one piece of equipment.
Generally, if equipment can be pod-mounted on an omnimech it can be pod-mounted in a hardpoint of one of the ‘mech types below. Equipment which cannot be pod-mounted on an omnimech cannot be pod-mounted in a hardpoint of one of the ‘mech types below. Repair and replacement times are treated as though they’re omnimechs.
Versamech
Versamechs have a flat structure weight penalty and are the bare minimum of ‘not very good’ omnimechs. It’s about 5 tons for a 100-ton ‘mech and restricts the size and number of weapons and equipment they can carry.
Rules
Versamechs have a structure weight that’s 50% heavier than normal (round up to the nearest half-ton). Effects which alter the ‘mech’s structure weight like Endo-Steel Structure and Reinforced Structure will apply before the structure is rounded.
Versamechs pay an additional 10% of their C-Bill cost in Gyro, Structure, Cockpit, and hardpoint-mounted weapons. Their cockpits, gyro, and structures are specific and required for Versamechs, but may be used by other battlemechs.
Versamechs have hard-mounted equipment. The remainder of their critical spaces can either be unused or dedicated to hardpoints. The remainder of their tonnage is used for pod space.
Versamech hardpoints have a singular equipment limitation, but no other restrictions.
Special Equipment
Infantry Carrier - While even the best infantry armor cannot protect infantry from the kind of firepower that is directed at a battlemech, the infantry carrier can hypothetically carry 1-6 infantry short distances. We are experimenting with powered exoskeletons to enable infantry to carry them for greater distances. This kind of limited infantry support in the field would be useful for some commands to have.
0.5 tons, 1-6 critical space - This grants the Omnimech the ability to transport power armor. It requires one crit for each trooper it can carry, up to a maximum of six. It includes the power feeds, communication ports, and handholds used by Omnimechs.
Feed Splitter - This branches feeds in a hardpoint to support two pieces of unrelated equipment.
0 tons, 1 critical space in the affected hardpoint - The Singular Equipment Limitation is waived to install one addition piece of equipment into that hardpoint. Repair and replacement times for both pieces of equipment are doubled.
Example: Strider
Multimech
Multimechs have three tiers of hardpoints and they have a structure weight penalty relative to the type and number of hardpoints they have. They are more complex, but also have more restrictions–and more character–than Versamechs and Omnimechs.
Rules
Instead of the Versamech’s flat 50% structure weight penalty, the Multimech’s structure weight penalty is dependent on the hardpoints it mounts and their tiers.
Tier I: +1% per Tier I hardpoint
Tier II: +4% per Tier II hardpoint
Tier III: +7% per Tier III hardpoint
Effects which alter the ‘mech’s structure weight like Endo-Steel Structure and Reinforced Structure will apply before the structure is rounded.
Multimechs pay an additional 10% of their C-Bill cost in Gyro, Structure, Cockpit, and hardpoint-mounted weapons/equipment. Their cockpits, gyro, and structures are specific and required for Multimechs, but may be used by other battlemechs.
Multimechs have hard-mounted equipment. The remainder of their critical spaces can either be unused or dedicated to hardpoints. The remainder of their tonnage is used for pod space.
Tier I hardpoints have no singular equipment limitation.
Tier II hardpoints can mount any equipment a Tier I hardpoint can mount, but still suffer the Singular Equipment Limitation.
Tier III hardpoints can mount any equipment a Tier II or Tier I hardpoint can mount, but still suffer the Singular Equipment Limitation.
Tiers can be dictated by any hierarchy of equipment: tonnage, tech rating, etc. But in this case, it’s the equipment type with a rough approximation of sophistication.
.
Tier I: Melee, Direct Ballistic, Performance Enhancement, Ammo, Lower Arm & Hand Actuators
Tier II: Missile, Gyro, Engine, Targeting System
Tier III: Direct Energy, Pulse, Electronics, Area Effect, Point Defense
Pod-Swappable Gyros and Engines
Unlike Omnimechs and Versamechs, Engines and Gyros can be pod-mounted by Multimechs. They gain the -2 skill bonus for replacements and the replacement of an omnigyro and omniengine take 1/4 the time as that of a non-omnigyro and a non-omniengine.
Omnigyros and omniengines are specific and required for Multimechs, but can be permanently converted for use by standard battlemechs. Like with omnipods, they cannot be used as omni parts once converted.
This means that there are both Multimech gyros and Multimech omnigyros, as well as XL, Compact, etc. versions of the same.
There are also XL omniengines, which require a shared Tier II hardpoint with 6 crits in the Center Torso and 3 crits in each Side Torso.
Special Equipment
Structural Plating L7O - This unique composite is a formed shell using the non-power and non-coolant attachments in a Multimech to form a shell with lattice around the other equipment in that hardpoint. The brittle shell shatters after just a few hits, but provides significant protection. Because of the large external ports of weapons, L7O plating cannot protect weapons.
1 ton, 1 crit - This equipment can only be mounted on Multimechs. Structural Plating will defend all non-weapon equipment in its hardpoint from up to two critical hits(but not head/limb blown off results). It is Performance Enhancement equipment and considered Tier I. It is considered assistive equipment and may be included in Tier II & III hardpoints with other equipment it protects.
Example: Hauptmann
Panmech
You thought Multimechs are too complicated.
Not so.
Panmechs load the heat, energy, structural, control, and ammunition feed needs of their equipment onto the ‘mech. This means that equipment and logistics chains for Panmechs are more efficient, with the rapid replacement and versatility advantages of omnimechs.
At the price of system complexity.
Rules
Panmechs pay an additional 10% of their C-Bill cost in Gyro, Structure, Cockpit, and hardpoint-mounted equipment weapons. Their cockpits, gyro, and structures are specific and required for Panmechs, but may be used by other battlemechs.
Panmechs have hard-mounted equipment. The remainder of their critical spaces can either be unused or dedicated to hardpoints. The remainder of their tonnage is used for pod space.
Panmechs do not have Singular Equipment Limitations.
Panmechs use a feedweight to limit hardpoints. Feedweight represents the needs of equipment which are compartmentalized and held in a hardpoint.
Pod-mountable equipment has a percentage of their weight–and sometimes crits–reduced, as those components have been made universal and installed in the Panmech.
By consulting the table of pod equipment below, you can see how much of the feedweight for each hardpoint they use. A hardpoint can only hold equipment which has a feedweight equal to or less than its feedweight.
Special Equipment
Panmechs do not mount standard equipment. They are required to mount pod-capable equipment, noted with a “-P”.
Name Feed Weight Item Weight
Small Laser-P 0 0.5
Medium Laser-P 0.5 0.5
Large Laser-P 1 4
LRM 5-P 0.5 1.5
LRM 10-P 1 4
LRM 15-P 1.5 5.5
LRM 20-P 2 8
SRM 2-P 0.5 0.5
SRM 4-P 0.5 1.5
SRM 6-P 0.5 2.5
AC2-P 1 5
AC5-P 1 7
AC10-P 2 10
AC20-P 3 11
PPC-P 1.5 5.5
ERPPC-P 2 5
ECM-P 0.5 1
A Panmech is still limited to its gross pod tonnage, even if unused feed weight would allow it to mount additional equipment.
Example: Avatar
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