Combat Manual: Mercenaries ArtSo a month ago, in BattleTech circles, I had fun breaking the internet with this crazy-cool cover.
Well, Combat Manual: Mercenaries is just about through with development and art is proceeding fast.
We’ve got a pile of brilliant photos provided by the fantastic crew at CamoSpecs.
And we’ve got illustrations coming in as well. And that includes the elements that will flesh out the mini-Technical Readout to be found in each Combat Manual.
So here’s the pre-final Warhammer’s write-up:
WHM-6R WARHAMMERThe Warhammer is one of history’s most successful and prolific BattleMechs. StarCorps Industries delivered “a mobile ’Mech with enough firepower to destroy or severely damage any ’Mech of the same weight class or lower.” Preference was given to firepower over combat endurance. The Warhammer appears in every House military in large numbers. It is also part of too many mercenary commands to count.
CapabilitiesThe Warhammer mounts an impressive weapons array, symmetrical save for the missile rack. Enemy MechWarriors rightfully fear the Warhammer’s long-range weapons, but its short-range firepower is intended to destroy both enemy ’Mechs and infantry. In some ways, incorporating anti-infantry weapons on such a large ‘’Mech seems superfluous, but the Warhammer’s position at the front often leads it into urban areas where infantry ambushes are likely. Unlike most other heavy ’Mechs, the Warhammer sacrifices self-protection in the name of damage infliction. Its light armor has cost many precocious and reckless MechWarriors their lives.
DeploymentIn 3019, Wolf’s Dragoons assaulted Hesperus II by order of Captain-General Janos Marik. The battle bogged down as the Dragoon regiments failed to break the defensive lines of the Twenty-fourth Lyran Guards, Third Royal Guards, Hsien’s Hotheads, and Hansen’s Roughriders. Captain Natasha Kerensky, in her black Warhammer, surprised a lance of defenders in an arroyo and pushed towards the Defiance Industries factory complex. Only the stalwart and desperate effort of Hansen’s Roughriders stalled the breakout attack. Kerensky reaped a heavy toll on the Roughriders, tallying more than a dozen kills on the Defiance doorstep. Of note, she routinely ignored the Warhammer’s commonly-regarded flaws and engaged ’Mechs generally considered superior. Major Cavanaugh “Pinpoint” Striker sought to block her path in his Awesome and paid for it with his life. Selfless courage sent a Roughrider medium lance into her path. She destroyed a Phoenix Hawk and Griffin while her command lance took out a Scorpion. Only a brave Shadow Hawk pilot remained and chose to throw herself against the attackers. Kerensky respected the show of courage and only disabled her ’Mech. That MechWarrior, Celeste Rio, went on to a long and respected career with the Rough Riders.
Among the darkest deeds performed by Warhammers in combat, McCarron’s Armored Cavalry used a lance of their “Hot Hammer” variant to destroy villages and towns on New Valencia in 3007. “The flamers glowed red on New Valencia” was the only recounting the Cavalry offered in reporting the atrocities. The effort to lure out Wolf’s Dragoons did not have the effect the Cavalry might have hoped. Instead of sallying boldly forth from their defensive perimeter, Colonel Jaime Wolf dispatched a lance of Phoenix Hawks to locate and ambush the perpetrators. The fast-moving medium ’Mechs outmaneuvered the Warhammers in the burning rubble of Paxton, a suburb of Raiteland. Only one of the Phoenix Hawks returned to the Dragoons, but none of the Warhammers returned to the Cavalry.
VariantsLike most centuries-old BattleMechs, the Warhammer has numerous variants. Some are the result of desperation, as lack of proper replacement parts led to complete weapons changes, while others are rooted in individual nations’ preferences. Some add additional heat sinks, while others increase the ’Mech’s relatively light armor. New variants are cropping up, too, as the Houses leverage recovered technology to augment the venerable and common ’Mech.
Notable Units Captain Reece McGee: Captain McGee is the grandson of Colonel Andrew McGee, former CO of McGee’s Cutthroats. Reece was one of the disaffected members of the command whose calls to leave the Draconis Combine after the Fourth Succession War finally boiled over into open mutiny. Reece was forced to fire upon his own family members during the battle for control of the Cutthroats. When Matthew Simonson’s coup was complete, he rewarded the youngest McGee with a company command.
Experience Level: Veteran
BattleMech: Warhammer WHM-6R/7M
Special Pilot Abilities: Hot Dog, Melee Master
Available To: Mercenary/Simonson’s Cutthroats
And of course, for each write-up, you have to have an illustration, which you’ll find above. And when Brent–our art director–made sure I knew this was the artist’s “sketch”, I almost fell out of my chair. Sketch…ha!
Gonna be awesome watching these unfold!
Randall
