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                 BattleMech Technical Readout

Name/Model:         Sherman SHR-M
Designer:           Redshirt
Source(s):          Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology:         Inner Sphere
Technology Rating:  E
Tonnage:            35
Role:               Striker
Configuration:      Biped BattleMech
Era/Year:           Jihad / 3080
Rules (Current):    Standard
Rules (Era):        Standard
Rules (Year):       Standard
Total Cost:         4,445,460 C-Bills
Battle Value:       1,035

Chassis:              M3 Jumbo 
Power Plant:          Maryland 175 XL
Walking Speed:        54 kph    
Maximum Speed:        86.4 kph  
Jump Jets:            None
    Jump Capacity:    None
Armor:                Vulcan Type II with CASE
Armament:             
    1 Defiance 980 Heavy PPC
    1 Coventry-6 SRM 6 w/ Artemis IV FCS
Manufacturer:         Vulcan Mechworks
    Primary Factory:  Vulcan Orbital Foundry
Communications:       Achernar Electronics HICS-50
Targeting & Tracking: 650 RND/Garret D2j

================================================================================================
Overview:
    The Sherman is the first Battlemech produced by the ambitious Periphery manufacturer Vulcan
    Mechworks.
    
    Aside from the use of an XL Engine, VM was extremely conservative with the design, utilizing
    standard Armor and Internal components. The Maryland 175 XL Engine itself was an in-house
    product, its small size a result of the engineering team's caution. The chassis, while also
    an in-house product, borrowed heavily from the UrbanMech. The weapons systems were
    commercially available, easily acquired items. Nobody at VM wanted to take chances with the
    design, and risk sinking the massive investment that Vulcan Mechworks' Founder had sunk into
    the brand new Orbital Factory. The end result of all this trepidation is a slow, scrappy
    Light Mech with substantial punching power for its size.
    
    The SHR-platform is marketed as a "Compact Medium Mech", though it fits squarely into the
    Light Mech category. Vulcan has leveraged its compact size and relatively low price to sell
    the design in bulk, to be used in bulk on the battlefield. This sales strategy has found a
    niche for the design, and allowed it to see battle across the Inner Sphere.
    
    This Mech has the following Quirks: Compact, No/Minimal Arms, and Bad Reputation.

Capabilities:
    Capable of moving 81kph at full throttle and clad in 7.5 tons of standard armor, the Sherman
    does indeed act more like a Medium Mech than a Light. The stock SHR-M model is armed with a
    Defiance 980 Heavy PPC and a Coventry Six SRM-6 launcher. The launcher is enhanced with
    Artemis IV FCS, further improving the Sherman's ability to deal crippling damage. All models
    of the Sherman feature the Compact and No/Minimal arms quirks, allowing the Sherman to be
    easily transported by Dropship.
    
    Unfortunately, those same quirks mean that the Sherman will struggle to right itself once
    knocked down, especially in the hands of the novice pilots they are issued to. The Maryland
    XL engine was also quite fragile, and could see the Mech knocked out of action with one or
    two well-placed shots to the side torso. Worse yet, the SHR-M had no CASE for its SRM
    ammunition, resulting in many catastrophic ammo explosions that killed pilots and damaged
    the Sherman's Reputation.
    
    VM would quickly release a modification kit that removed half a ton of armor to mount a CASE
    system for the ammunition, but the damage to Vulcan's sales was already done. Between a
    mixed reputation, and The RotS' new Military Materiel Redemption Program, the
    Periphery-based manufacturer might have been finished, were it not for a spectacularly cheap
    Lyran General and a stroke of good luck.

Deployment:
    The first few batches of Sherman Mechs were sold to local Periphery powers, but the largest
    early adopter of the SHR-platform was the neighboring Lyran Commonwealth. The Lyran state
    found itself in desperate need of light BattleMechs as the ravages of the FedCom Civil War
    and Jihad destroyed their front-line Light Mechs faster than could be replaced.
    
    The Sherman's main proponent within the Lyran military was one Hauptman William Gerard.
    placed in charge of a small Combat Zone along the Steiner-Marik border, Hauptman Gerard
    would purchase a full Company of Sherman Mechs-and associated spare parts-to be deployed as
    part of a newly formed Lyran Militia unit on Cavanaugh II. The new Cavanaugh Militia would
    be tested in combat several times, repulsing raids from the neighboring Duchy of
    Tamarind-Abbey through overwhelming numbers. Utilizing a Leopard dropship to ferry the
    entire 12-Mech Company to the site of any landing. Hauptman Gerard himself would oversee
    these engagements from the Command Console of a modified SHR-M. These short, flashy battles
    between Elite Dutchy raiding parties and the "scrappy" Cavanaugh Militia caught the
    attention of interplanetary News services. Vulcan Mechworks, already beginning to feel the
    pinch as sales of the Sherman dried up, sized on the opportunity. VM dispatched a camera
    crew to document the Militia's success and collect footage for a new advertising campaign.
    
    The footage gathered painted a picture of humble, low-born soldiers being thrown into a meat
    grinder. a scarred MechWarrior taking a smoke break atop his ruined Sherman quickly filtered
    into local pop-culture. The most significant result of this "documentary" was that it
    revealed Hauptman Gerard as the scion of a wealthy house, one with a substantial stake in
    the Factories on Hesperus II. The VM crew also bumped into a Lyran propaganda team, who
    carelessly revealed that the Hauptman had hired them-at great expense-to record his
    successes to then leak to the press. For the soldiers, the take-away was clear. Hauptman
    Gerard found himself the cheapest possible Mechs to give to the Cavanaugh Militia, so he
    could purchase a veritable army for himself and improve is standing amongst the Lyran
    public, and the Social Elite.
    
    The Cavanaugh Militia mutinied against the Hauptman, and struck out on their own as
    Mercenaries. Rather than hide the footage they had collected to avoid alienating House
    Steiner, Vulcan Mechworks correctly guessed which way the market was going, and released
    their footage, edited and arranged to paint the Cavanaugh Militia, now Cavanaugh Marauders,
    as heroes. The Sherman was, for the duration of the Republic's existence, marketed as the
    Mech for up-and-coming Mercenaries, a Mech of the People. This move insured continued sales
    of the SHR platform, saving Vulcan Mechworks from bankruptcy.

Variants:
    The SHR-Mc3 was the first variant developed for the Sherman, a result of delays in shipments
    of Heavy PPCs. The -Mc3 is armed with twin Large Lasers and 5 RL/15s. This makes the -Mc3
    cheaper to buy and maintain than the -M model, as well as offering incredible firepower, if
    only for a single salvo. Its also slightly cheaper than the SHR-M, which for many
    Mercenaries and Periphery nations is a very attractive feature.
    
    The SHR-Ma1 is a more recent development, using a Supercharger to push the Sherman to
    100kp/h and replacing its weapons with a short-range loadout. Armed with twin Snub-Nose PPCs
    and twin Small Pulse Lasers, this model is better suited to traditional Light Mech roles
    such as flanking or anti-infantry duties. It still retains the heavy armor of the stock
    model, and is no longer ammunition dependent. All this improvement comes at a cost. The -Ma1
    is almost twice as expensive as the stock SHR-M.

Notable MechWarriors:
    Commander Joseph Felix was the leader of the Cavanaugh Militia, and the man who led the
    mutiny against Hauptman Gerard. Rather than confront the man directly, Commander Felix
    spiked one of the Hauptman's drinks with a sedative. He then took footage of a burning
    Sherman Mech and sent it to Gerard's family, convincing them he was dead and requesting
    money to have the body sent home. Felix's gambit succeeded, and he had the money within
    days. Once he did, he shoved the unconscious Gerard into a shipping crate, tossed in a Life
    Support package to keep him alive, and shipped the crate out. While the Hauptman was
    discovered and released well before his crate made planetfall, he was unable to return to
    Cavanaugh II or send word back fast enough to stop Commander Felix from escaping with all
    the Militia's remaining Sherman Mechs, the Leopard, and the money.
    
    Renaming his unit the Cavanaugh Marauders, Joseph and his men became fairly successful
    Mercenaries, selling thier services to the various states that emerged from the
    Balkanization of the Free Worlds League. They would quickly acquire heavier, more effective
    Mechs, but the Sherman never disappeared from the inventory of the Marauders. Joseph himself
    would pilot a modified Sherman, a Command Mech with a Clan-Tech ER-PPC and twin MML-5
    Launchers. Footage of the Cavanaugh Marauders, especially their daring raid on Oriente,
    would continue to see use as sales material for the Sherman.
    
    Thanks to said sales material, its difficult to know just how successful the Cavanaugh
    Marauders truly were. In spite of their apparent success, no record of Commander Felix or
    his unit exists after 3140, leading many to believe the unit has since been destroyed,
    disbanded, or "disappeared" by a resurgent SAFE.
    
    
    Igor "Ogre" Amit was a small-time Solaris Jockey that rose to prominence after Vulcan
    Mechworks approached the "Ogre" and his team with a deal. VM wanted to showcase its new Mech
    in the Solaris arenas, but it needed something flashier than the stock SHR-M. In return for
    providing several Sherman chassis and a team of Techs to help modify and maintain them, Igor
    and his team would "acquire" rare Clan technology for them to use.
    
    Thanks to his sketchy reputation and mixed performance in the arenas, Igor was one step away
    from dead-ending his career. As such, he readily agreed to the deal. While it is not known
    how exactly they managed to do so, Igor and his team acquired a large quantity of Clan Pulse
    Lasers and ER Micro Lasers, along with experimental Laser Heat Sinks.
    
    The Mech VM built for Igor, "Potemkin", was quite the spectacle in the Arena. Equipped with
    a Supercharger and enough LHS to fire its weapons continuously, Igor quickly gained in
    popularity on his showmanship alone. Other teams began to try and mimic Potemkin's signature
    glow, resulting in a long trend of cosmetic light mods on Solaris. Many fans loved the look,
    but many more disliked it. Of Igor and his Mech, Solaris announcer Duncan Fisher commented:
    "This Mech is the source. the beginning. The start of the worst trend in Mech asthetics in
    the history of the Sphere. Those lights are like a Stop Light. They say 'don't come any
    closer, the pilot has no brain, and no taste!' The only glow I want to see from that thing
    its its Supercharger blowing up."

================================================================================================
Equipment                                                             Mass                      
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure:                          Standard                  3.50                     
Engine:                                       175 XL                   3.50                     
    Walking MP:                                 5                                               
    Running MP:                                 8                                               
    Jumping MP:                                 0                                               
Heat Sinks (Double):                         10 [20]                   0.00                     
Gyro:                                        Standard                  2.00                     
Cockpit:                                     Standard                  3.00                     
Armor Factor:                                  119                     7.50                     
    Type:                                    Standard                                           

                                    Internal         Armor     
                                    Structure        Value     
    Head:                               3              9       
    Center Torso:                      11             18       
    Center Torso (rear):                               4       
    R/L Torso:                          8             13       
    R/L Torso (rear):                                  3       
    R/L Arm:                            6             12       
    R/L Leg:                            8             16       

================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo                                       Location          Critical     Tonnage   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Heavy PPC                                                 RT                4         10.00             
CASE                                                      LT                1          0.50             
SRM 6 w/ Artemis IV FCS                                   LT                2          3.00             
SRM 6 (Ammo 15)                                           LT                1          1.00             

================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics                                             
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Point Value (PV): 28
TP: BM,  SZ: 1,  TMM: 2,  MV: 10"
Damage: (S) 3 / (M) 3 / (L) 2,  OV: 0
Armor (A): 4,  Structure (S): 2
Specials: CASE
 
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Code Release 2.24.13 (2024-05-02T16:27:58-04:00)