Clint

The Clint was first created in Introduction Year::2607 as a direct result of the Star League Armaments Act, a law meant to provide border areas with the latest in battlefield technology. The next version, CLNT-2-3T, was mass produced starting in 2608. The Clint was primarily designed as a cheap recon unit, with the capabilities of a well-armed, low-end medium weight 'Mech, and in this regard it served well. With a top speed of 97.2 km/h and a jumping capability of one hundred and eighty meters, the Clint can easily keep up with other recon elements and maneuver through mountainous or urban terrain. Its Sloan 220 Lockover T&T System in particular shines as it is simple to use and provides the pilot with excellent battlefield data. Although the 'Mech has limited ammunition reserves for its autocannon, the Sloane 220 ensures that whatever the Clint shoots at, it hits.

However the design's manufacturer, Andoran Industries, Limited, a minor BattleMech firm located on Bell, won the bid by undercutting its competitors using cost-cutting design features. Not only was the Clint built with shoddy parts which rarely lasted a year, but it also used very few standard components; modular parts which were easily exchanged between many different 'Mechs could not be used in the Clint without a great deal of modification. The machine became a technician's nightmare, taking longer to repair than comparable 'Mechs, and allowed Andoran to recoup the Clint's low sales price with a hefty service contract. Over three hundred Clints were produced before the Star League fell and Andoran's factories were destroyed during fighting between the Federated Suns and Capellan Confederation.

House Davion and House Liao took possession of the lion's share of remaining Clints and shipped them off to remote locations within their realms for defense purposes, though the Capellans still maintained several of the 'Mechs in front-line units. Nevertheless, the destruction of the Bell facilities destroyed not only the original Clint blueprints, effectively ending the production of new units and spare parts, but also records of the exact number of Clints produced and variants created. During the Succession Wars therefore Clints could be found throughout the Inner Sphere, proving quite popular in the Periphery, but the origins of many of these machines and whether their differing load-outs were official factory variations or simple field-refits remained unknown. In addition, the Clint's non-standard components quickly went up in price - in particular the Gyro quickly became worth its weight in gold - and many were simply stripped for parts to repair damaged machines.

Despite the inherent maintenance difficulties in the design an estimated two hundred Clints remained in service up through the Clan Invasion, mostly in the hands of the Capellans or scattered along the Suns' border regions. The Confederation also introduced the 3U variant, which was quickly adopted by the Federated Commonwealth after the Bell Refit Yards were built upon the remains of the original factory complex. The design's blueprints eventually found their way to Defiance Industries of Furillo, which in 3055 began producing new Clints for the first time in centuries.

Weapons and Equipment
The Clint was originally designed to carry an Armstrong Buster Autocannon/10 but, due to problems involving the stress limits of the 'Mech's chassis, the autocannon was downgraded to an Armstrong J11 Autocannon/5 with one ton of ammunition. As secondary weapons, the Clint carries two Martell Medium Lasers. This well-balanced mix of weapons when combined with the Clint's above-average maneuverability for its size make the Clint a highly effective multi-role BattleMech.

Variants

 * CLNT-1-2R : The 1-2R Clint was the original prototype variant that carried an Armstrong Buster Autocannon/10 with a single Medium Laser as a secondary weapon and no jump jets. Only twenty of these were produced, and while some left with Aleksandr Kerensky none have yet resurfaced, though attempts to emulate them have appeared. BV (1.0) = 621, BV (2.0) = 707


 * CLNT-2-3U : The 2-3U is a Capellan field upgrade of the Clint that strips all of the armaments from the chassis and replaces them with more potent and enduring weaponry, the most radical of which is the primary weapon. The AC/5 has been replaced with a Magna Firestar ER PPC while both the Medium Lasers were replaced with Magna 400P Medium Pulse Lasers; as a result, it runs much hotter than the original. The 3U also packs double heat sinks in place of single models and is more deadly in combat. The 3Us were later deployed by the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth in the mid-3050s up until the break-up of FedCom; they have since been adopted by the Lyran Alliance and several mercenary outfits.  BV (1.0) = 943, BV (2.0) = 1,081


 * CLNT-2-3UL : A Jihad-era upgrade of the 3U, the 3UL swaps out the weapons for a Plasma Rifle with three tons of ammunition and two ER Medium Lasers. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 1,245


 * CLNT-2-4T : This variant of the Clint carries two Autocannon/2s in place of the single AC/5, giving it one of the longest ranges possible on such a small chassis. It also bears a single Medium Laser as a secondary weapon. Like the 1-2R variant, the 2-4T also has no jumping capability. BV (1.0) = 531, BV (2.0) = 619


 * CLNT-3-3T : Produced by the Taurian Concordat at the outbreak of the Jihad, the 3-3T modifies the original 2-3T. It adds Ferro-Fibrous armor to the design and swaps out the AC/5 with a Light AC/5, presumably supplied to them by the Word of Blake. This lighter weapon makes room for the inclusion of CASE and two tons of ammunition, ensuring it is able to carry various types of munitions. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 901


 * CLNT-5U : The 5U Clint is a complete rework of the design, adopted by the Lyran Alliance Armed Forces on the eve of the FedCom Civil War. It is constructed using an Endo Steel chassis and is powered with a Light Fusion Engine, freeing up weight for a Maxell ER Large Laser as its primary weapon. This is backed up by three ER Medium Lasers. The 5U also carries an advanced C3 slave unit and a TAG spotting laser to allow it to designate targets for friendly units. BV (1.0) = 1,118, BV (2.0) = 1,275


 * CLNT-6S : Put into production following the fall of Hesperus II to Blakist forces at the outbreak of the Jihad, the 6S uses the 5U as a base, dropping the jump jets in favor of a larger 280-rated XL engine and Heavy Ferro-Fibrous armor. Two ER Large Lasers provide long-range firepower with only two ER Medium Lasers as back up, while the TAG and C3 unit have been removed and a Small Cockpit used to make room for a head-mounted ER Small Laser. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 1,334

Custom Variants

 * CLNT-2-3T Denton : This model exchanges the Autocannon/5 with a Large Laser and four Heat Sinks. BV (2.0) = 873


 * Clint IIC 2L Leia : Starting from a Clan Chassis, and in an effort to improve its overall damage output of this 'Mech, the designers shucked the armor (though it has been swapped for Inner Sphere Ballistic-Reinforced Armor, jump jets and autocannon from the original Clint IIC chassis, and popped in two advanced Inner Sphere-made lasers (one a powerful Large Variable Speed Pulse Laser, and the other a Medium Re-Engineered Laser, and mated all of the ’Mech’s weapons to a Clan Targeting Computer. BV2 = 1,480.

Design Quirks
The Clint has the following Design Quirks:
 * Improved Targeting (Medium, Long)
 * Exposed Actuators
 * Difficult to Maintain
 * Non-Standard Parts

Related BattleMechs

 * Clint IIC - The SLDF took several of the prototype Clints with them on the Exodus. These were the basis of an upgraded version that was designed using Clan technology.