Brutus

Description
Renowned for its heavy punch, the Brutus Assault Tank features an impressive combination of long and short range firepower. Powered by a Rawlings 225 Fusion Engine with a top speed of 54kph, the Brutus compares well to other fusion engine equipped tanks of similar weight and role like the Von Luckner and Manticore, though unlike its contemporaries it only carries a relatively light eight and half tons of Kressly Stoneskin 40X armor in exchange for a heavier weapons array.

Despite its abilities, the Capellan Confederation Armed Forces remained lukewarm on the design. The tank was relegated to the Confederation's second-line militias and garrison postings, where it finally saw action during the Fourth Succession War. Impressed by its performance, the AFFS quickly pressed the large number of captured tanks into service among the frontline Regimental Combat Teams of the AFFS and AFFC.

After the formation of the Chaos March, the Brutus saw heavy service as a stand-in among BattleMech poor noble forces, until Epsilon Eridani was accepted into the Word of Blake Protectorate and Kressly produced the design exclusively for the Word of Blake, helping to bolster the Blakist's armor units in the lead-up to the Jihad.

Weapons and Equipment
The tank's principal weaponry are twin turret mounted Firmir MaxiLase Heavy Lasers supported by a twenty-tube Delta Dart Long Range Missile Launcher. To complement the Large Lasers at short ranges, the Brutus was given two Hovertec six tube and a single Hovertec twin tube Short Range Missile Launcher in its frontal firing arc. The SRM launchers have a ton of ammunition each, while its LRM launcher has been given three tons of ammunition.

Variants

 * LRM : This 3001 variant removed both of the Large Lasers, instead mounting a pair of turreted LRM 20 launchers. The Launchers had been given six tons of ammunition to keep the tank going in battle. The armor protection of the tank had been slightly increased as well. BV (1.0) = 845, BV (2.0) = 1,248


 * PPC : In place of the twin Large Lasers and LRM 20 this 3005 version saw a pair of Parti-Kill Heavy Cannon PPCs, and an additional SRM 2. It also sees increase in armor protection. BV (1.0) = 735, BV (2.0) = 1,208


 * PPC Variant 2 : This 3011 variant keeps the standard Brutus armor layout and Large Lasers, but replaces the LRM and SRM-6 launchers with a single PPC. For additional short range firepower four SRM-2 racks are mounted on the vehicle but one ton of ammunition can lead to shortages in an ongoing battle. BV (2.0) = 979


 * HPPC : This 3075 variant replaces the Lasers with a Heavy PPC, and allows the vehicle to take part in a C3 network. The rest of the armament remains the same as the standard Brutus. BV (2.0) = 1,186