History In 3025, two Liao battalions staged a raid against the planet Holt in Davionspace. The only forces defending the planet were the Hat-in-the-Ring Battalion (HRB) and some local infantry and light armor units. The HRB is a mercenary unit that has a long history of serving House Davion. When Charmichal's recon lance (2 Spiders and 2 Assassins) captured two of Liao's Chargers out on a recon mission, the question was what to do with them. The HRB completely out-maneuvered and out-fought the Liao troops and captured more than a company of 'Mechs before the campaign was over. Of all the captured 'Mechs, no one wanted the Chargers. Even Locust pilots preferred their 'Mechs, saying they were faster and more heavily armed! Stuart Bell, the chief Tech, convinced Lt. Col. Forsythe that the Chargers could be modified in the same way that House Steiner was rumored to be modifying the Banshee. As commander of the HRB, Col. Forsythe knew he had some of the best Techs in the Inner Sphere. Ever since the 2980's, the HRB has had an intensive Tech recruitment and training program. It is standard procedure in the Tech corps to record every bit of information available on 'Mech production and 'Mech repair. As a result, the HRB has always made minor changes to some of its 'Mechs (for instance, their Assassins mount a medium laser and extra armor in place of the SRM launcher), but they had never done anything on this scale before. Technical Aspects Stuart Bell assembled his team and began work immediately. The most difficult part was replacing the massive fusion engine with the more common Pitban 240. Fortunately, Bell was intimately familiar with the P240 since so many 'Mechs use this engine. After months of work and testing, he was satisfied with the engine's performance and set to work modifying the weapons. In order to get a useful, operational 'Mech quickly, Bell decided that changing the fire control system would be too difficult and unnecessary. Using spares meant for the Battalion's Riflemen, he mounted four large lasers (Magna Mk III) and a medium laser (Magna Mk II) in the head in place of the five small Magna Mk I lasers. He then added heat sinks in the space available and as much armor as the support structure would take. The armor was added in such a way as to maintain the original Charger silhouette as much as possible and to dis- guise the modifications. [Note: Stuart Bell is a Certified Master Tech with a Technician Rating of 8. It is recommended that these modifications not be attempted by anyone who does not have a Rating of at least 6 or 7] Battle History As these things often seem to happen, the HRB household was attacked shortly after the first Challengerwas completed but before the second Charger's modifications began. The two 'Mechs were deployed together to protect a small village where an attack was anticipated. That same night a light lance attacked. The Challenger stood its ground while the lance approached it firing their medium lasers and missiles. At a range of 120 meters, the Challenger opened fire with all four large lasers, thereby melting the cockpit of the lead Phoenix Hawk. The Chargerthen rushed in and attacked a Stingerat point blank range. Its kick left the Stinger lying on the ground. At this point the rest of the lance withdrew. Variants Some attempts have been made to mount a Donnel PPC in the right arm and/or an LRM 15 launcher in the torso of the Challenger. While all these modifications can be done theoretically, they are much more difficult and tend to overtax the Dalban HiRez targeting system. STATS Mass: 80 tons Chassis: Wells 990 Power Plant: Pitban 240 Cruising Speed: 32.4 kph Maximum Speed: 54.0 kph Jump Jets: None Jump Capacity: None Armor: Durallex Heavy Armament: 4 Magna Mark III Large Lasers 1 Magna Mark II Medium Laser Manufacturer: none-modified Wells Technology Communications System: Tek BattleCom Targeting and Tracking System: Dalban HiRez Type: CGR-SB Challenger Tons Tonnage: 80 Tons Internal Structure: 8 tons Engine: Pitban 240 11.5 tons Walking MPs: 3 Running MPs: 5 Jumping MPs: 0 Heat Sinks: 28 18 tons Gyro: 3 Cockpit: 3 Armor Factor: 248 15.5 tons Location Internal Structure Armor Value Head 3 9 Center Torso 25 40/10 Rt./Lt. Torso 17 24/10 Rt./Lt. Arm 13 26 Rt./Lt. Leg 17 346 Weapons and Ammo Type Location Critical Tons Large Laser RA 2 5 Large Laser LA 2 5 Large Laser RT 2 5 Large Laser LT 2 5 Medium Laser H 1 1 Back to BattleTechnology 4 Table of Contents Back to BattleTechnology List of Issues Back to MagWeb Magazine List © Copyright 1988 by Pacific Rim Publishing. This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com