Battletech record sheets hatchetman plus#

The weight savings was enough to replace the XL engine with a heavier but less vulnerable standard GM 260. This dropped the AC/20, the large pulse laser, and two tons of armor in favor of a LB-10X autocannon and an ER-Large Laser. The MechWarrior issued the Axeman, Brefudd Dari, was less than impressed with its lack of range and its XL engine, both of which nearly got him killed at the Battle of Pascia Grove. Since the Sentinels had engaged the Clans more than most other AFFC units, Johnston Industries sent one of the first 1Ns for the Sentinels to test it. The Sentinels were one of the first units to get an Axeman, a AXM-1N, in late 3050, just in time for the liberation of Planting. The Axeman remains a common sight in all its forms in both AFFS and LAAF units. Though AXM-1N production ended at both Johnston and Defiance in favor of the AXM-3S and AXM-4D, the 4D is not as popular due to the loss of jump capability.

Battletech record sheets hatchetman plus#

A field modification known as the AXM-3SR appeared in 3069, which replaced the AC/20 with a RAC/5 rotary autocannon, plus C3 and a medium pulse laser the Federated Suns-exclusive AXM-4D appeared in 3071 to serve during the Jihad, which dropped all but two medium lasers and the hatchet, plus the jumpjets, for a quartet of Light Autocannon/5s and a targeting computer. The medium lasers were upgraded to ERs and a Guardian ECM suite was added. Lyran forces receiving Defiance production were issued the AXM-3S, with a less vulnerable light fusion engine and a lighter, but no less devastating, LB-20X autocannon. Shortly before the FedCom Civil War, two other versions came into existence. Nonetheless, 2N production ended by 3053. When the jamming problem was finally cured in the AXM-1N and it began to reach frontline units in 3052, the lack of ranged firepower left the 1N at a disadvantage against Clan opponents: often the Axeman would not survive long enough to use the hatchet. Though criticized at the time, it was the 2N that initially faced the Clan invasion, and MechWarriors appreciated the long-range firepower: Axeman pilots would saturate the target with LRMs, then go in with the hatchet, the one Inner Sphere weapon the Clans seemed to actually fear. Unwilling to face production delays, Johnston began production of the interim AXM-2N, which replaced the balky AC/20 with twin LRM-15 racks. The AC/20’s offset position led to frequent jamming issues that threatened the entire design.

The Axeman went into production at Johnston in 3048, and Defiance followed in 3051. Emphasis was placed on “unity” with the design: not only would it be produced in both the old Federated Suns (at Johnston) and in the Lyran commonwealth (at Defiance on Hesperus II), the armor would come from a former Liao factory, while the jumpjets were produced in the St. Armor protection was considered good, and used ferro-fibrous armor. Doctrine would be for the Axeman to close in with its foe, using its jumpjets, devastate them with a heavy fusillade, and then finish off the opponent with the hatchet. Naturally, the Axeman was rounded out by a hatchet. A large pulse laser provided supplementary firepower, with a close-in array of three medium lasers. It was built around a huge AC/20, offset to one side of the ‘Mech’s centerline to create room for the bulkier GM 260XL engine. The Axeman would be the company’s first design.Ĭertainly the AXM-1N looked very impressive. To both open a new ‘Mech production line (something else finally achievable thanks to lostech) and to avoid ComStar scrutiny, the Federated Commonwealth quietly expanded Johnston Industries on New Syrtis, which before 3048 only produced tanks. Banzai of NAIS and Team Banzai Banzai was able to build a working prototype on New Avalon, which the AFFC accepted as a new ‘Mech design-but Banzai had nowhere to build it. What would become the AXM-1N Axeman was the brainchild of the brilliant but eccentric Dr. Limitations of the technology at the time led to this being delayed until 3046-the rediscovery of Star League-era lostech finally made a bigger ‘Mech possible, namely in the use of an XL engine. The success of the Hatchetman design led to several proposals to upscale the design to a heavy ‘Mech.