Date: Thur, 17 July 1997 From: Martin Metke and Brandon Bird GURPS Mecha MAC II Design --------------- PART I: CONCEPT Another stab at the M.A.C. II (Monster) from Robotech, Macross, etc. It's even huger than Mr. DeHope stated, with a reported loaded mass of 285.5 tons, or 571,000 lbs! According to Palladium's 'Robotech: The Roleplaying Game', the MAC II's destructive power is nearly matchless, and is complemented by its awesome ability to withstand punishment. The armour ratings we used were based on the ratio of 5 DR to 1 M.D.C.* and _are_ realistic, since the Monster was used as a front-line mecha up until the Zentraedi assault on Earth (at which time it suffered the same fate as the BF-110 Zerstorrer fighter, needing to be protected by faster, more manueverable mecha). The Tech level is 8 for everything except the TL 10 powerplant and the TL 10 induction field, both of which are explained by the use of Protoculture (which has been described as a sort of semi- organic, incredibly efficient cold-fusion matrix and sensitive brain wave translator). ----------------------------- PART II: BODY & SUBASSEMBLIES STEP 1: CHOOSE SUBASSEMBLIES Two legs. Two striker arms. No turret. STEP 2: STREAMLINED MECHA This mecha is not streamlined. -------------------- PART III: COMPONENTS STEP 3: DRIVETRAIN A 1784 kW drivetrain, for 20mph; Wt: 10,976 lbs Vol: 109.76 cf per leg Cost: $2,193,400 STEP 4: ARM MOTORS 2 1000 ST striker arm motors (Just enough ST to carry 3 Hvy. Missile launchers and 12 missiles per arm) Wt: 100 lbs per arm vol: 2 cf per arm Cost: $80,000 per arm Pwr: 5 kW per arm STEP 5: THRUSTERS Mr. DeHope had a great idea in his inclusion of 10%-mass-thrust safety thrusters. We also included thrusters at 10% of planned mass, but these came out a bit heavier: 2 TL 8 Chemical rockets, 28,550 lbs thrust, for 57,100 lbs total, one in each leg; wt: 428.25 lbs ea. vol: 8.565 cf ea. cost: $21,412.50 total Fuel consumption: 62,810 gph Rocket fuel STEP 6: COCKPIT The M.A.C. II has a crew of 3, but seats 8. 1 TL8 Cockpit, 3 extra seats, all ejection seats, 2 TL8 Cockpits, 1 extra seat, both ejection seats Wt: 3,670 lbs total vol: 214.1 cf total cost: $640,800 total pwr: 4 kW STEP 7: BUILT-IN WEAPONS Mr. DeHope was right: this thing is fearsome. It mounts 4 40cm cannon and six lasers or six heavy missile tubes (3 per arm). We found the 200mm autocannon to be a close match for damage. However, we found the lasers to be somewhat weak compared to standard GURPS equipment, and so stuck with the six-missile launcher option, but figured the lasers also, for fun. 4 TL8 200mm Autocannon, body, forward wt: 18,000 lbs ea. vol: 360 cf ea. cost: $360,000 ea. pwr: 102 kW (we think this is a typo) 40 rounds, APFSDSDU, 200mm A.C., body wt: 13,600 lbs vol: 136 cf cost: $489,600 --and-- 6 TL8 Heavy Missile Launchers, 250mm,(3 per arm) wt: 1,250 lbs ea. vol: 25 cf ea. cost: $36,000 ea. 2 X 12 TL8 250mm heavy missiles, (12 per arm) wt: 6,000 lbs per arm vol: 120 cf per arm cost: $792,000 per arm --or-- 6 TL8 light laser cannon, (3 per arm) wt: 150 lbs ea. vol: 3 cf ea. cost: $18,000 ea. pwr: 28,800 kW ea. STEP 8: WEAPON ACCESSORIES Each arm's missiles or lasers are linked. The four cannon are linked. The cannon and missile ammo are in anti-blast magazines Three weapon links. Cost $150. Anti-blast Mag., cannon, body wt: 3,400 lbs cost: $34,000 2 X Anti-blast Mag., Missile, 1 in each arm wt: 3,000 lbs per arm cost: $30,000 per arm STEP 9: SENSORS Well, both we and Mr. DeHope forgot to look at the given stats for all destroids(non-transformable mecha): to wit, standard equipment includes 30-mile radar, but only a 2-mile laser range-finder and 1600-foot thermal- and night-vision sensors! Sounds silly, esp. since the MAC-II is supposed to double as an anti-aircraft platform. so, we put in what we thought was adequate: 1 rear-looking PESA, 10 Miles, 10X power, body,rear (for backing up) wt: 40 lbs vol: .8 cf cost: $160,000 pwr: neg 1 forward-looking PESA, 50 Miles, 50X power, body, front wt: 200 lbs vol: 4 cf cost: $800,000 pwr: neg 1 forward-looking AESA, 100 Miles, body, front wt: 300 lbs vol: 6 cf cost: $500,000 pwr: 50 kW STEP 10: COMSUITES As the MAC II is called on mainly for artillery/support, we thought it should have the best positional guidance and ranging suite possible. hence: 1 TL8 Advanced commsuite, body wt: 62 lbs vol: 1.24 cf cost: $32,600 pwr: .14 kW STEP 11: ELECTRONIC COUNTERMEASURES We decided to have a little fun, so our MAC II has three decoy launchers: 1 flare, body, 1 smoke, body, 1 chaff, body, wt: 60 lbs total vol: 3 cf total cost: $300 total reloads, body: 5 flares, 5 smoke, 5 chaff, wt: 150 lbs total vol: 7.5 total cost: $250 total STEP 12: POWER SYSTEMS As previously explained, the Protoculture matrix works as a highly efficient fusion matrix of advanced design. Since the authors of the Robotech sourcebook said several times that the Protoculture matrix was a technology far advanced of Humans' of the time, and that it was not well understood, we went with TL10 fusion. We also decided to provide power enough to run the lasers without using an energy bank. TL10 Fusion Reactor; 175,006 kW output, body wt: 37,001.2 lbs vol: 740 cf cost: $2,050,060 STEP 13: FUEL AND FUEL TANKS Fuel Tanks: 2 275 gallon Self-sealing tanks, enough for around 30 sec. thrust, 1 per leg wt: 275 ea. vol: 41.25 cf ea. cost: $5,500 total Fuel: 550 gallons Rocket Fuel, wt: 5,500 lbs cost: $1,100 STEP 14: CARGO SPACE We also assumed 10 cubic feet of cargo space was situated in the body, but only allocated 35 pounds per cf of space for weight. wt: 350 lbs vol: 10 cf STEP 15: ACCESS SPACE Access to the leg drivetrain, powerplant, and thrusters: Leg access space. Vol: 159.6 cf each. Body access space. Vol: 657.5 cf. --------------------------- PART IV: VOLUME & STRUCTURE STEP 16: BODY & SUBASSEMBLY VOLUMES Volume, body: 4,150 cf Volume, legs: 1,245 cf ea. Volume, arms: 400 cf ea. STEP 17: SURFACE AREA body: 2,000 sf legs: 800 sf ea. arms: 400 sf ea. STEP 18: STRUCTURE This is a brute, so we used the heaviest internal structure we could. I.S.: TL8, frame strength: extra-heavy; materials: standard, wt: 35,200 lbs cost: $1,100,000 STEP 19: HIT POINTS I tell you, this is scary: HP, body: 12,000 HP, legs: 4,800 ea. HP, arms: 4,800 ea. ------------------------ PART V: SURFACE FEATURES STEP 20: ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION The MAC II is sealed for use in space; sealed, $88,000 STEP 21: DEFENSIVE SURFACE FEATURES The mecha has none. STEP 22: ARMOUR palladium describes the Mega-Damage Capacity (or M.D.C.) that it uses to represent armour as being invulnerable to all types of small arms fire, and even small vehicle collisions (I'm not kidding), just like metal or laminate armour. However, Mega-damage Capacity is depleted by Mega-Damage attacks (those done by mecha or heavily-armed vehicles or infantry), just like ablative. So, it's invulnerable to small-arms, but peels off when hit by heavy weapons. Thus, we chose to place a 100 DR metal armour shell over a hideously unfair amount of ablative armour. Keep in mind that these armour values were converted directly from the palladium stats. TL8, 100 DR metal shell over entire mecha, Body, wt: 30,000 lbs cost: $600,000 Arms, wt: 6,000 lbs ea. cost: $120,000 ea. Legs, wt: 12,000 lbs ea. cost: $240,000 ea. TL8, Fire-proof Ablative core armour, Body, 1,900 DR, wt: 114,000 lbs cost:$1,824,000 Arms, 1,400 DR, ea. wt: 16,800 ea. cost:$268,800 ea. Legs, 1,400 DR ea. wt: 33,600 ea. cost: $537,600 ea. Total: Body, 2,000 DR; 144,000 lbs; $2,424,000 Arms, 1,500 DR; 22,800 lbs; $388,800 ea. Legs, 1,500 DR; 45,600 lbs; $777,600 ea. ------------------- PART VI: STATISTICS Loaded Mass: 526,065.7 lbs, or 263 tons. (laser version: 501,465.7 lbs, or 250.7 tons) Empty Mass: 499,215.7 lbs, or 249.6 tons (laser version: 486,615.7 lbs, or 243.3 tons) Total Volume: 7,440 cf. Size Modifiers: Total Mod: +6 Body Mod: +6 Arms Mod: +4 Legs Mod: +5 Health: 10 (w/lasers: 10) Total Cost, empty: $14,331,272.50 (w/lasers: $14,163,372.50) Total Cost, Loaded: $16,405,972.50 (W/lasers: $14,164,472.50) ST, Body: 24,000 ST, Arms: 1,000 Reach, 10 yds Height, Width, and Length, as per Palladium: 24.4 yds X 10.4 yds X 14.2 yds --------------------- PART VII: PERFORMANCE Ground Performance: Ground Speed, Max: 20 mph gMR: 1.5 gSR: 2 Move: 10 DOESN'T JUMP! According to GURPS:Mecha rules, it can barely hop. Can't clear even a small puppy. Space Performance: sAccel: .11 sMR: .11 --------------------- Advanced stuff (optional but nifty) Programs: 1 Complexity 3 Targetting (Gunner:200mm A.C.) +4 to Gunner, $4,000 1 Complexity 2 Targetting (Gunner:250mm Hvy Missile Launcher) +3 to Gunner, $2,000 1 Complexity 2 Targetting (Gunner:Lt. Laser Cannon) +3 to Gunner, $2,000 1 Complexity 2 Datalink, $200 Note: The Protoculture matrix acts as a TL10 induction field, at no extra cost or volume. Actually, this was pretty handy, since we forgot to add it in until after we'd figured all the stats out. But, according to the literature, this _is_ how it works. *We determined that the average Robotech character was quite similar to the GURPS average, with 10 Hit Points, and that the military characters' S.D.C. (like DR and health combined, a measure of endurance) of 20 was equal to a tough soldier's natural DR of 1. Now, since 1 Mega-Damage equals 100 S.D.C., and 20 S.D.C. equals 1 DR, 1 Mega-Damage equals 5 hits. (1 M.D.=100S.D.C ; 20 S.D.C = 1 DR ; 1 M.D.=100/20 dr= 5) This gives a fairly reasonable armour equation, and in fact let us come within 45,000 lbs of our target weight. Of course, this is a grossly unfair amount of armour, requiring a total of around 19,000 damage to deplete the ablative armour completely from the body. Still, this is called the 'Monster' for a reason!