Warlord

The Warlord was originally intended as a streamlined, all-energy weapon variation of the classic BLR-1G BattleMaster, but the changes and weight reduction were significant enough that GM's intellectual property lawyers insisted on a new name.

While not normally a GM product, or even a design commonly produced in the Federated Suns, the design specs for the BattleMaster were supplied by the Sanromea-Davions of El Dorado, wealthy bankers who had previously invested in the now-Clan held Trellshire Heavy Industries facility on Twycross. While lacking political clout outside of their homeworld (except via their impressive banking ties), the Sanromea-Davions wanted BattleMechs and the planet's advanced civilian industries, virtually untouched by the Succession Wars and the FedCom Civil War, allowed GM to bring virtually all aspects of production to one planet, free from disruptions by the Jihad.

As much as possible has been done to simplify and streamline construction of the Warlord, including avoiding the wiring nightmare represented by the BattleMaster's second cockpit by just leaving the space empty. Save for the focusing lens of the lasers, virtually every component was easily within the production ability of the Helm Memory Core-enhanced factories on El Dorado, with only the Endo Steel chassis produced off world.

Weapons and Equipment
Designed with the goal of lengthy battlefield endurance and avoiding reliance upon fragile supply trains in the Jihad, the Warlord is armed with an all energy weapon load-out consisting of two arm mounted Magna Hellfire Heavy PPCs and six Martell ER Medium Lasers split between each side torso. The large number of double heat sinks carried allows the Warlord to fire either both PPCs or all lasers near continuously whilst moving. The advanced PPCs use much of the parts of the standard and easily available Magna Hellstar PPCs, while the specialized focusing mirrors of the ER lasers are the only exotic component, greatly aiding both construction and repair.

Variants

 * BLR-2Dr : This variant adds Triple Strength Myomer and a C3 Slave, reorganizes the laser complement (four ER Medium Lasers, Medium Pulse Laser, Small Pulse Laser, and Medium Laser), and carries a single ER PPC. One of the Heavy PPCs is removed in exchange for this equipment. BV (2.0) = 2,284


 * BLR-2G : The 2G is a variant developed to overcome the production bottleneck the off-world construction of chassis represented as disruptions of interstellar shipping increased. While El Dorado lacked the orbital facilities to produce Endo Steel, they readily produced the advanced crystalline polymers shared by double heat sinks and XL Engines. Saving weight on the power plant allowed a switch to a standard chassis, with the six ER lasers replaced with ten standard Medium Lasers mounted in a two over, three under configuration. An additional ton of armor is token recognition of the increased fragility of an XL engine. BV (2.0) = 2,033


 * BLR-2XC : An experimental command variant, this Warlord is five tons lighter than the production Warlord. Equipped with a Cockpit Command Console, Angel ECM Suite, Bloodhound Active Probe, Remote Sensor Dispenser, TAG, and C3i computer, this variant provides a commander with everything they might need on the battlefield. An XL Engine provides a top speed of 64km/h, and a pair of ER PPCs and six ER Medium Lasers provide enough firepower to extract the commander from any trouble that might find him.

Related BattleMechs

 * BattleMaster - The Warlord was originally based on the chassis of the BattleMaster, acquired by the Sanromea-Davion family through their interest in Trellshire Heavy Industries of Twycross.

Design Quirks
The BLR-2XC Warlord variant is subject to the following Design Quirks:
 * Battle Computer
 * Improved Communications