Name:  ProtoMech Jump Jet
Type (Category):  Jump Jet (Other)
Reference:  TechManual (p. 225)

Description:
Because so much of jump jet effectiveness hinges on the size and mass ratios between the thrusters and the ’Mechs they lift, the Clan version of standard BattleMech jump jets does not significantly differ from those of Spheroid brands like Chilton, Luxor Load Lifter and Rawlings. With the advent of much lighter and more compact ProtoMech designs, however, a new breed of jump jets was born to address the unique features of Proto construction. These smaller ProtoMech jump jets are far more akin to the jump packs used by battle armor than they are to ’Mech-scale jets.

Game Rules:
Jumping allows the most flexibility in movement, but generates a great deal of heat (for those units that track heat). A Jumping unit suffers a +3 to-hit modifier when making attacks, but a jumping unit makes a more difficult target. Any jump-capable unit has Jumping MP listed among its game statistics, or is described as jump-capable in the rules specific to that unit.

’Mechs must be standing at the start of the turn in order to jump. When a unit jumps, it can move 1 hex for every available Jumping MP. It may jump in any direction, regardless of its original facing. The player chooses a target hex for the unit to jump to (this may the same hex the unit is standing in), and then the unit travels to that hex along the shortest path (i.e. the fewest number of hexes required to get there), landing with any facing desired. A unit can jump over and into any hex, regardless of terrain type. If this path crosses a level higher than the sum of the unit’s Jumping MP plus the level of the hex in which the jump started, then the unit cannot make the jump. If more than one possible path exists between the unit and its goal hex, the player may declare which path his unit takes.

A unit with at least one Jumping MP may jump down any number of levels.

ProtoMechs

Prototype Date:	~3055
Production Date:	3060
Extinction Date:	—
Recovery Date:	—

WEAPONS AND EQUIPMENT COMBAT AND CONSTRUCTION TABLE * See rules for this equipment

RULES LEVEL PROGRESSION TABLE
MegaMek Output → Critical Slot:  ProtomechJumpJet