There is a lot of flavor in the Battletech universe if you are looking for something fun and new, its what makes the game so much fun to play decade upon decade for someone like myself. Sure we all came for the big stompy robots but we stayed for the story and the simulation aspects of the game system. One of those quirky and rarely played items is that of maritime patrol craft such as the Sea Skimmer.
This unit is only marginally useful on the tabletop since its nature limits it to certain map types which also make its speed, though impressive, predictable. However it is fast, sprinting at 18 mp, which makes it hard to hit - and its fun. In a campaign setting they are useful as scouting units in a strategic sense, running up and down rivers or coastal waterways looking for enemy formations or as special operations insertion and extraction units. In a fight with anything but 3025 era 20 ton recon mechs and it gets dicey quick.
And given the lore behind this vessel - that makes sense. Essentially a rich kids yacht club masquerading as a military unit on Skye, the 348th Reserve Detachment spent most of its existence running 'drills' on the weekend with beer and civilian guests. Not a bad way to do reserve duty, if you ask me. But when Lord Kurita came calling in 2895 the Reserve Detachment was called up to actual service, and perhaps surprisingly did ok given the limitations. Though by the end of the conflict the Draconis Combine forces had whittled the detachment down to just two out of an original 12 operational sea skimmers. When the combine forces finally broke thru the Lyran lines and threatened to overrun a key area the militia commander decided to hell with rules of war and busted out the nukes. Ordered to run 1 kiloton demolition charges up the river to the Dam holding back the Mantty river - which when unleased would drown the Kurita mech battalion currently crossing the flood plain. The 348th dutifully sallied up river with there nuclear cargo, and at maximum speed made there dash for glory. Though one Sea Skimmer was lost to a mech patrol, the other blasted thru to its objective where under a withering hail of infantry weapons defending the dam the 348th detonated its charge. It is unclear if this was always designed to be a one way trip for the crews or if the situation became so desperate that the Lyrans realized there was no escaping capture by the Kurita forces and decided nuclear fire was a preferable option.
This performance convinced the Lyrans to build more of these craft, originally a custom build for the New Glasgow Yacht Club by Skye Pleasure Craft. They would be deployed on boarder worlds with significant oceans or water ways. Additionally the crafts would be transported as part of the Lyran Provision Navy for deployment on Combine worlds during the 4th Succession War. We'll cover those in a later installment.
No matter how useful the units may be on the tabletop, in scenario and campaign play they offer a nice change of pace and tactical problems to solve when you get bored with the usual robot on robot violence. These prints are from deadlands_guy from cults3d - check them out here.
Source:
TRO 3026
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