In-Universe Mech Highlight: The Rifleman and the Jagermech (SLDF era)
Rifleman
Introduced: 2505
Mass: 60 tons
Max Speed: 64 kph
Jump Capacity: n/a
Jagermech
Introduced: 2774
Mass: 65 tons
Max Speed: 65 kph
Jump Capacity: n/a
One of the earliest battlemechs ever produced, the Rifleman was a purpose-built fire-support mech from a different age of warfare. In its earliest, primative form, the mech, conceived as a 50-ton fire-support mech with an all-energy loadout, was a poor performer that ran hot constantly, although it was noted that the Rifleman's state-of-the-art Garret D2j targeting and tracking system did make it ideal for tracking and defending against aerospace assets.
As newer technology was invented, PPCs replaced the lasers in its arms, and more heatsinks were added, although the mech continued to run hot, and its light armor became problematic when faced off against Thunderbolts, and later Warhammers and Marauders, which could withstand the Rifleman's initial onslaught, all the while while picking apart its thin armor. The light armor forced the Rifleman to run hotter and hotter, and begin to conserve the PPC usage, at which point it would be picked apart by the bigger, more powerful mechs.
Because of its laundry list of flaws, the Rifleman soon found itself outclassed in its original fire-support role, and relegated to second line duties. However, while the mech proved itself to be a poor front-line fighter, its D2j tartgeting computer, despite being older than the Star League, continued to be one of the most powerful and accurate anti-aircraft targeting systems, and Garret's constant refining of the platform only served to allow it to carve out a niche as the most advanced anti-aircraft system in existence.
By the 28th century, the Rifleman and it's unmistakable rotating propeller-shaped targeting system had morphed from a failed fire-support mech to being the definitive anti-aircraft platform in the Inner Sphere. In a time when a focus on combined arms warfare and specialist mechs that fit into that combined arms approach was reaching its apex, a lance of Rifleman providing covering a company or batallion of mechs, armor of infantry against air attack was a common sight.
In the 2760s, Kallon Industries redesigned the Rifleman, moving away from fire support to a focus solely on anti-aircraft protection. The result, the ubiquitous RFL-3N, added ten tons to its frame and swapped the PPCs in each arm for paired large lasers and AC/5 autocannons. The AC/5s in particular had proven to be deadly anti-aircraft weapons, and pairing them with the Garret D2j system made them even deadlier, cementing the Rifleman as the mech to be feared if you were an Aerospace fighter or VTOL on an attack run.
However, the venerable Rifleman still ran hot, and still suffered from paper-thin armor. While heat could be managed, and light armor worked for a mech that wouldn't be seeing direct fire, the Rifleman still posessed a glaring deficiency: The limited ammunition supply- a single ton in total for both of the twin autocannons- meant that, away from SLDF supply lines, the Rifleman's ammo bins quickly ran dry, and the mech itself then became a hot, poorly armored liability. Finally, at two-and-a-half centuries old, and one of the first mechs ever built, Kallon considered that the Rifleman line might simply be maxed out, and that an improvement was needed; something that tackled the RFL's three major problems: armor, heat and ammo.
Strangely enough, the fall of the Star League saved the Rifleman; the mech, having been produced in quantity for centuries, was common and readily available. Unlike its Royal Upgrade the Rifleman II, the RFL-3N used almost no advanced technology, so it was never downgraded or required weapons to be replaced in the face of the Succession Wars. While the Rifleman II was a vastly superior anti-aircraft mech, it was only produced for four decades in limited numbers, and what RFL-3N-2s that werent destroyed in Operation Chieftain or what left in the Exodus was quickly lost to history in the opening days of the Succession Wars.
The 3N, however, persisted.
The Garret tracking system- the only advanced tech on the mech, and what truly made the Rifleman such an anti-air threat- was produced by more than two dozen factories spread across numerous planets, and this decentralized manufacturing made it one of the rare examples of sophisticated technology to survive the destruction of the Succession Wars.
Unfortunately, the loss of the SLDF and the destruction brought by the Succession Wars turned warfare from one fought on an Army/Corps/Division/Brigade scale to that of a lance/company/batallion/regiment scale, and removed specialized mech from their main roles. Where once mechs could be built as specialists designed to fill a specific battlefield role in the movements of grand combined arms divisions and brigades, the Succession wars quickly broke down the battlespace to more primitive small-unit actions, and in these company-level actions, the generalist was king. As technological knowledge was lost, advanced weapons vanished from the battlefield, and every mech available was thrown into the fray regardless of how ill-suited they were for the fighting.
These events forced the Rifleman back to the front lines, where it remains to this day, and where, over the last few centuries, it has acquired a bad reputation. The circumstances of war have demanded that the Rifleman play a role for which is was not designed, and it has proven itself poorly equipped for that.
The Rifleman remains a mech out-of-time, destined to serve in a role it was never designed for, but bound to by sheer ubiquity in a time of scarcity.
LEGACY: As mentioned above, the SLDF created a Royal variant of the Rifleman, the Rifleman II. First produced in 2720, it added a further 20 tons to the mech's frame, using Endo Steel to compensate. The extra tonnage, combined with an XL engine, allowed the mech to keep the 64km/hr speed, while increasing armor. It also traded the AC/5s for the dangerous LB 10-x autocannons, and upgraded the large lasers to large pulse lasers. 14 double heatsinks kept the mech running very cool. While considered to be the pinnacle of mech-based anti-aircraft platforms, it was to be a superior flash in the pan; produced only in limited numbers, most were destroyed in Operation Chieftain and the subsequent battle to retake Terra from Stefan Amaris. The few that survived either disappeared with Kerensky in the Exodus or were destroyed early in the 1st Succession War.
The Rifleman III, a one-off "wonder weapon" prototype produced at the request of Stefan Amaris while he retained a chokehold on the Terran Hegemony, is a curious quirk in the RFL lineage. At 90 tons, it is the heaviest Rifleman produced, and easily the deadliest, but its loadout does not fit the Rifleman line's modus operandi. Developed and produced at literal gunpoint by Krupp Armaments on Terra, the RF-2A mounted four Gauss Rifles, and only two tons of ammo. The addition of a Null Signature System made it an ambush specialist, as it's 32 km/hr top speed made it ill-suited for anything else. The Rifleman III proved to be remarkably effective, destroying nine SLDF mechs before it was brought down during the battle for Terra. It remains a curious and remarkable outlier in the Rifleman lineage.
Perhaps the most notable legacy of the Rifleman is that, for all its flaws, and the fact that it is ill-suited for line duty, it has become basically impossible to replace in its niche. It is notable that the only mech better than the Rifleman for the anti-aircraft role is the RFL-3N-2, a mech 20 tons heavier, crammed full of the most advanced technology available, and still utilizing the Rifleman chassis.
That doesn't mean that companies haven't tried.
The most notable one is Kallon Industries itself. Recognizing the need for a replacement to the venerable RFL series, it's creator set about building a better, more capable Rifleman around the Garret D2j system in the early 2770s. The result was the Jagermech. 5 tons heavier than the Rifleman, the Jagermech was built to correct the three problems of the Rifleman: it ran too hot, it's ammo ran dry too quickly, and it's armor was too thin.
Swapping out the twin large lasers for paired AC/2 autocannons solved the heat problem, and gave the Jagermech the ability to chip away at incoming fighters from long ranges. At the same time, the extra tonnage allowed for a doubling of AC/5 ammo at one ton per gun, while a single ton of AC/2 ammo gave the more ammo-conservative twin light autocannons punch.
However, the armor stayed the same, despite the increase in weight. At the time, the designers (rightfully) figured that a purpose-built anti-aircraft mech wouldn't require much armor, as the mech simply needed to survive a highspeed pass by fighters. Since no one knew that the scale of war was about to change, the mech seemed to be perfect for its intended role.
Throughout the last days of the Star League and the early Sucession Wars, the Jagermech could be found working in tandem with the Rifleman in anti-aircraft roles. However, as the face of war devolved into smaller scale combat, the Jagermech would find itself thrown onto battle lines right next to the Rifleman as a mech ill-suited for the generalist nature of modern warfare.
A single variant of the Jagermech would be produced right before the end of the Star League. Doubling down on the AA role, the JM6-A replaced the twin AC/5 cannons with paired LRM-15 launchers, one in each arm, and two tons of ammo. It also added two tons of armor, increasing protection. This variant was produced in small numbers in the chaos before the collapse of the Star League, and almost none made it to the SLDF before the Exodus. Instead, most ended up serving in Federated Suns Regimental Combat teams.
Time would see both mechs refit with lostech, with the Rifleman receiving XL engines, more armor, double heat sinks and either upgraded autocannon (RFL-5M) or a return to the PPC configuration of early models (RFL-5D). Some custom models even mounted twin Gauss rifles in the arms at the expense of the large lasers and autocannon of the 3N.
The Jagermech would also see a twin Gauss rifle upgrade, although as an official Kallon variant (JM6-DG) rather than a rare customized mech, and at the expense of all four autocannons. For the most part though, variants to the Jagermech focused on upgrading autocannons to faster-firing Ultra models (JM6-DD), increasing ammunition, and upgrading the mech's two medium lasers.
Perhaps the most notable Jager variant is the new 70-ton JM7-D, introduced in 3057, which adds 4.5 tons of armor and swaps the AC/2 cannons for ER Large lasers. The extra weight saved is then given to thirteen double heat sinks.
As well, as of this writing, there are rumors of a newly redesigned Jagermech being developed in the Federated Commonwealth. It remains to be seen whether this new Jagermech will take the mantle of the definitive anti-aircraft mech, or whether the design will take the line in a different direction.
