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Design Overview
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                 Combat Vehicle Technical Readout

Name/Model:         Marksman MBT M1A
Designer:           Anonymous ONI agent
Source(s):          Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology:         Inner Sphere
Technology Rating:  E
Tonnage:            95
Role:               Juggernaut
Configuration:      Combat Vehicle
Era/Year:           Dark Age / 3088
Rules (Current):    Standard
Rules (Era):        Standard
Rules (Year):       Standard
Total Cost:         13,160,550 C-Bills
Battle Value:       1,778

Movement Type:        Tracked
Power Plant:          Edasich Motors 285 Light Fusion
Cruising Speed:       32.4 kph  
Maximum Speed:        54 kph    
Armor:                AmberStar Weave Heavy Ferro-Fibrous with CASE
Armament:             
    1 Lord's Thunder Gauss Rifle
    2 Holly MML 9s
    4 Krieger C1 Series Medium Lasers
    4 MainFire Minigun Machine Guns
Manufacturer:         Pandora ’Mech Works
    Primary Factory:  Terra
Communications:       COMTEC 400E
Targeting & Tracking: GroundTracker EE-4

================================================================================================
Overview:
    All information transcribed from Technical Readout 3085 Supplemental.
    
    The Winston Combat Vehicle has been an instant success, meeting with strong praise from all
    units that have so far seen deployment. Despite the high marks it has received, its
    seventy-ton mass and lack of large main gun was deemed insufficient to go against
    contemporary assault-grade main battle tanks such as the Challenger and Alacorn. When the
    RAF Quartermaster office informed Pandora that the Winston would not be the RAF light MBT of
    choice, with the Kinnol earning that distinction, Pandora responded quickly. Before an open
    bid for an assault class MBT design could be formally put out, Pandora had submitted their
    M-series assault tank for consideration. While a full review of all manufactures’
    proposals was performed, Pandora’s design – designated by the RAF as the Marksman –
    was chosen in no small part because they had already begun internal trials on an operational
    design.

Capabilities:
    The Marksman M1A Main Battle Tank shares a name with the First Star League’s artillery
    tank, but that is where any similarities end. The designation was chosen in part as a nod to
    the accuracy of the tank’s main gun, but it was also consciously noted that the use of the
    name could cause confusion in opposing military forces and intelligence groups that would
    equate “Marksman” with the older model artillery tank.
    
    Built on a ninety-five ton chassis, a light fusion engine powers the tank at fifty-four
    kilometers an hour at flank speed. While not leaving as much tonnage free as the Alacorn’s
    Pitban XL, the cost savings make the Marksman a less-expensive base chassis. Defensive
    protection mirrors the Winston with fifteen and a half tons of AmberStar Weave heavy
    ferro-fibrous armor backed up by a chassis-mounted CASE system. The armor load is heavier
    than on nearly any other assault grade tank and has the unfortunate side effect of stressing
    the suspension and putting increased wear on the tread systems.
    
    While Pandora’s Marksman concept was always built around the reliable M-7 Gauss Rifle, the
    original design mounted three different missile racks and no energy weapons. When it was
    selected to be the new RAF main battle tank, the Quartermaster requested that Pandora
    standardize the missile launchers and examine taking advantage of the fusion engine to
    ensure that the tank would have weapons in even the longest of engagements. Pandora
    responded by mounting Four Krieger C1 series medium lasers in the gimble arms over the
    turret. The new compact model of Krieger laser is modeled on the Cyclops Eye laser used by
    the venerable Drillson Hover Tank, the barrelless design giving them a high degree of
    durability in rough combat. The varied missile racks were replaced with two nine-tube
    multi-missile launchers. Able to support the M-7 at range, the MMLs provide a massive
    increase in short-range firepower. With a dual brace of Mainfire Miniguns for point-blank
    defense, opponents of the Marksman face the undesirable choices of staying at range and
    facing the Gauss rifle, or closing and being sandblasted by the lasers and short-range
    missiles from the MML racks.

Deployment:
    The Marksman’s first field trials were conducted this spring at the X-5 Test Ranges in the
    Outback of the Australian continent. In lightly broken terrain, two Marksman M1A tanks were
    supported by two Giggins APCs carrying jump infantry. Various other vehicles were included
    to represent actual battlefield combat situations. A mixed unit of four medium BattleMechs
    and a reinforced lance of cavalry vehicles made up the opposing force. The Marksman tanks
    made an early showing with well-placed gauss rifle shots that destroyed one BattleMech and a
    Maxim II. The OpFor used the broken terrain to close in relative protection, coming out
    right on top of one of the Marksmans, though was unprepared for the brutal short-range
    response. The computer simulation left two of the OpFor’s ’Mechs and half of their
    vehicles destroyed at the cost of just one immobilized M1A.
    
    Trials are still underway as suspension issues continue to plague the design, but full
    deployment is expected early in 3088, with a goal of at least one lance of Marksmans on each
    Protectorate world by 3095.

Variants:
    Pandora has been approved to release their original model to the general public. The M1 will
    lack the M1A’s laser arsenal and replace the multi-missile launchers with three
    independent missile systems. Dual six and streak-four short-range missile launchers lend the
    M1 a powerful short-range punch. The use of MRM racks on the M1 was deemed contrary to the
    RAF’s needs for a main battle tank, but the low cost of the system and ammunition loads is
    expected to appeal to many planetary militias. The M1 further reduces costs through the use
    of a standard engine and ferro-fibrous armor. Even the CASE was removed, as the severely
    limited missile stores of this tank will likely be depleted long before its armor is
    breached. The M1 is expected to first ship in late 3088.

================================================================================================
Equipment                                                             Mass                      
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure:                          Standard                  9.50                     
Engine:                                  285 Light Fusion             19.00                     
    Cruising MP:                                3                                               
    Flanking MP:                                5                                               
Heat Sinks (Single):                            12                     2.00                     
Control Equipment:                                                     5.00                     
Lift Equipment:                                                        0.00                     
Power Amplifier:                                                       0.00                     
Turret:                                                                3.50                     
Armor Factor:                                  307                    15.50                     
    Type:                              Heavy Ferro-Fibrous                                      

                                              Armor                                             
                                              Value                                             
    Front:                                      73                                              
    R/L Side:                                   62                                              
    Rear:                                       50                                              
    Turret:                                     60                                              

================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo                                            Location              Tonnage       
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Gauss Rifle                                                  Turret                15.00        
2 MML 9s                                                     Turret                12.00        
4 Machine Guns                                               Turret                2.00         
4 Medium Lasers                                              Turret                4.00         
CASE                                                          Body                 0.50         
Gauss Rifle (Ammo 16)                                         Body                 2.00         
MML 9 (Ammo 22) [SRM]                                         Body                 2.00         
MML 9 (Ammo 26) [LRM]                                         Body                 2.00         
Machine Gun (Ammo 200)                                        Body                 1.00         

================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics                                                    
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Value (PV): 47
TP: CV,  SZ: 4,  TMM: 1,  MV: 6"t
Damage: (S) 7 / (M) 5 / (L) 3
Armor (A): 10,  Structure (S): 5
Specials: CASE, IF1, SRCH, TUR(7/5/3, IF1)
 
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Code Release 2.24.13.1 (2024-09-02T12:52:21-04:00)