Mace (Custom vehicle)

Description
The Taurian Defense Force uses a great many vehicles in their line forces, primarily hover tanks and light to medium tracked tanks. One of the few shortfalls is the dearth of heavy and assault weight tanks for static defense. Though the SRM and LRM carriers in their various forms are present in great quantity, there are relatively few Main Battle Tanks like the Rommel or Von Luckner deployed. Seeking to address this gap the Ministry of Defense has actively sought to purchase such heavy vehicles, or better yet, a license to manufacture such heavy designs to bolster the line forces and relieve some of the demands on the 'Mech forces. Unfortunately, Thomas Calderon 's growing paranoia and xenophobic distrust of the Inner Sphere made this task far more difficult than it should have been. With already strained resources barely supplying current needs, any excess capacity was diverted to dubious static fortifications. The Ministry was unable to make any progress, until a pirate raid in 3043 was not only stopped, but the Jumpship was also captured. Before the Protector could divert this windfall, the ship was sold to the Capellan Confederation and the cash used to purchase several companies of heavy tanks, mostly Manticores. The remaining monies were placed aside for the Quartermaster's Office to once again bid out for a new tank design. Specifically a Main Battle Tank that could replace a medium 'Mech.

The first round of bids from both Periphery and Inner Sphere builders failed to produce anything the Quartermaster's could justify putting their limited funds into. In the second round of solicitations Pinard Protectorates Limited offered a partnership with Vandenberg Mechanized Industries to jointly produce a design, one that surprised the Comptrollers not so much because it met their specs, but because it was two separate tanks. In the same fashion as their success with the Culverin V1 and V2 models, PPL sought to use the same engine, chassis and electronics but carrying distinctly different weapons. Unable to produce all of the needed components without a huge and unfeasible upgrade to their facilities, PPL decided to share their twin solution with their competitor at VMI who had the manufacturing muscle to bring the design off. Thus the Mace was born.

Again using only components manufactured locally by Taurians, the 'Long' Mace and the 'Short' Mace could be interchanged in a lance or company depending on the local commander's needs. The same basic and major components could be shared between the two making life a little easier for the Quartermaster's office as well as the Tech's assigned to the new vehicles. The use of CASE vastly improved a crew surviving battle, which made the Maces quite popular with the troops. But it was still a light tank, not the massive metal beast the Comptroller's sought. The Ministry of Defense was on the verge of denying both companies the bid when word reach their office that the Protector was gunning for the monies in reserve for another round of 'great walls'. Before it was lost the TDF High Command ordered the Comptrollers to take what they could get...NOW.

Armament
The 'Long' Mace carries two large weapons both mounted in the turret; a Donal PPC and a Delta Dart LRM-15 with two tons of ammo. Able to provide both direct and indirect fire support this Mace is usually on the flanks of a formation. The 'Short' Mace carries a mighty arsenal of lasers and missiles in the form of a Sunglow Type 2 Large Laser and a Diverse Optics Type 2 Medium Laser in a co-axial mount. To either side of the lasers is a Harvester 20k SRM-6 with a ton of reloads each. A SperryBrowning Machine Gun is swivel mounted high and above the lasers for anti-infantry fire. This Mace is in the front of a formation and often employed in urban/restricted terrains.

Deployment
The Maces are still relatively new to the Taurian Concordat. Moreover this design has become more of a defensive rather than offensive weapon. Thus Maces are usually found on high population worlds in the Taurian Concordat and few others. They are commonly tasked with flanking/gaurding slower missle carrier tanks and forming the 'line' at hard points alongside larger, slower tanks. They have earned the nickname 'Mini-Manticore' for their resemblance to that larger tank. Still it is powerful and rugged for its size, and fairly easily repaired. Some have been sold in small lots to Mercenary forces looking to cover gaps in their TOE. ComStar has made small purchases of this tank. And a large number have made it into the Noble House Regiments of the Concordat. Both PPL and VMI are looking into ways to upgrade the design, mainly by using Ferro-Fibrous armor or perhaps Artemis FCS / Streak technologies for the missile systems.

Variants
A single field variant seen on Hall in the mercenary command StrikeForce mounts a Large Pulse Laser, an SRM-6 with Artemis IV FCS in the turret (one ton of reloads) and four Machine Guns (two right, two left) with a half ton of ammo to supply them. The tank carries a Beagle Probe to aid in locating hidden targets. The Starslab/7 is replaced with Ferro-Fibrous.

Another unique spotted in the same mercenary force carries an ER PPC in the turret, a C3 Slave and five extra heat sinks. The LRM-15 is replaced with an LRM-5 with but one ton of reloads. The tank sports an extra half ton of armor, all of it Ferro-Fibrous.