Combat Vehicle Technical Readout
Name/Model: Shara
Designer: 09-Tyba
Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology: Clan
Technology Rating: F
Tonnage: 30
Role: Striker
Configuration: Combat Vehicle
Era/Year: Jihad / 3080
Rules (Current): Standard
Rules (Era): Experimental
Rules (Year): Experimental
Total Cost: 890,500 C-Bills
Battle Value: 557
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: BV- 120 Fuel Cell
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Forging OTR17c Ferro-Fibrous
Armament:
1 Type X "Short Bow" LRM 10
1 CH-95 Lightweight Gun System ProtoMech AC/8
2 ChemBlast Model 2 'Tethys' Medium Chemical Lasers
2 HMG-44 Machine Guns
Manufacturer: Niles Industriplex Charlie
Primary Factory: Niles
Communications: Consolidated BMR 6c
Targeting & Tracking: TRTTS Mark II
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Overview:
imported from xtro: project zhukov by Steve Cross. Range = 45,000 MP.
Although both the Zorya and Mithras had been in service for over 50 years
the Hell?s Horses, under the aegis of Project Zhukov sought to develop an even
cheaper replacement for the two vehicles, combining their roles into a single
platform in the name of efficiency and supply. It was rationalised that if a PGC
only had to use one type of spare parts and equipment it would be easier to
keep them equipped without negatively impacting the supply chain or
production lines.
This rationalising would fall by the wayside with the later introduction of the
Pele but still it served as impetus behind the design of a new second line
vehicle. Using the weapon systems jointly developed with Clan Coyote it would
also reduce the cost of construction by not using so many Mech scale weapons,
freeing up the weapons to be put to better use elsewhere or to have their
resources reallocated to more important projects or construction.
This meant that the new vehicle had to be simple, but by no means
ineffective. Opting to use a fuel cell engine for the first time in a combat vehicle
the Hell?s Horses Scientists cited that its fuel was very easy to get and would
require less construction of things like oil plants or drilling, further saving
critically needed resources.
Capabilities:
This did however result in a somewhat plodding maximum speed of 64kph
which matched the Zorya?s performance and was far slower than the Mithras,
but as the tank was seen as a defensive weapon, this wasn?t too much of a
drawback. The designers heavily drew upon the Zorya?s layout and the two
vehicles were somewhat visually similar. Both massed 35 tons and both had a
forwards cab which housed the driver and commander/gunner?s position whilst a
rear section attached by a flexible mounting housed the main turret
which was directed from the cab. The design?s tracks were broad,
allowing it to deal with most terrain whilst keeping ground pressure down,
much like the Zorya and both vehicles shared the same communications
and targeting systems to reduce cost.
The biggest change came with the weapons. Replacing the light
autocannons with the newly developed LGS (Lightweight Gun System)
was an obvious choice. The LGS used a smoothbore design to reduce
weight whilst smaller charges for the shell propellant reduced recoil
forces, allowing the gun to be made lightweight and small. Even the
biggest of the LGS weapons, the LGS-8 only weighed half a ton more
than an Ultra or LB series autocannon whilst delivering a heavier punch,
albeit at a shorter range. It was this model of LGS that was fitted, the
CH-95 Lightweight Gun System, fed by 2-tons of ammunition gives the
Shara a surprisingly potent punch.
To counter this change in weapon range, a Type X ?Shortbow?
LRM-10 was fitted above the cannon although unlike the Zorya, no
Artemis fire control was fitted. Additional firepower was supplied by a
pair of newly developed ChemBlast Model 1 ?Tethys? Series Medium
Chemical lasers and were the first deployment of these weapons outside
of testing. Loading its lasing chemicals using 300ml ?shells? initial
concerns about the rounds volatility were largely overhyped, still when
loading them the crews had to wear chemical suits ?just in case?.
These lasers had less range than a typical Clan laser and less of a
punch, but it was more than adequate and in built up terrain, tests
showed that the new vehicle, designated the Shara, after a Sumerian
War God, could be dangerous at the vehicles planned engagement
ranges. Finally, a pair of HMG-44 machine guns were mounted in the
forwards cab to provide anti-infantry protection.
Deployment:
The result was a cheap to produce vehicle that consumed little in the
way of vital strategic resources, being over 200,000 Cbill equivalent
cheaper to make than a Zorya that the Shara largely replaced. The
Shara did not fully replace the Zorya, and both tanks would serve
alongside one another, and several Clans altered the Zorya into other
roles, such as the ?Urban Pacification Vehicle? variant used by Clan
Smoke Jaguar during Operation REVIVAL, replacing its weapons with
many machine guns and flame throwers, making it a butcher of infantry
forces or rioting civilians. Other, larger Clans like the Wolves just kept
both in service together, but the Horses stripped most of their Zorya?s or
removed their turrets to put them in defensive emplacements around
critical locations in their Occupation Zone.
Unlike the later Pele, the Horses only ever used the Shara in second
line Provisional Garrison Clusters and in the Horse occupation zone they
became a common sight and a common enemy for forces trying to raid
Horse worlds. The Shara also appeared in the PGC?s of other Clans in
their Occupation Zones, the vehicles either obtained through trade,
making their own or Isorla. The Horses tended to back up their PGC
forces with vehicles like the Tezcatlipoca as well as Ku and Oro tanks
and later vehicles like the Von Luckner IIC. This often caught attackers
off guard.
In battle the surprisingly potent bite of the Shara made it quite
respectable as it could bring a considerable amount of firepower to bare
at short to medium ranges and wasn?t defenceless at long ranges, and
whilst most Clans tended to use their vehicles poorly, the punch of the
little 35-ton Shara made Inner Sphere forces who faced them have to take
notice. In combat though their biggest drawback was their low speed and short
range, a problem with their fuel cells that the Horse?s never seemed to be able
to solve. But this slow speed and limited range wasn?t seen as too big a
problem as in most cases an opponent would be coming to the tank, not the
other way around.
Following Tukayyid, the Shara was deployed in front line forces whilst they
rebuilt their strength following the heavy losses in the huge battle but when
replacements came forwards from the Homeworlds, they were quietly placed
back into PGC?s again.
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Equipment Mass
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Internal Structure: Standard 3.00
Engine: 120 Fuel Cell 5.00
Cruising MP: 4
Flanking MP: 6
Heat Sinks (Single): 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 1.50
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Power Amplifier: 0.00
Turret: 1.00
Armor Factor: 67 3.50
Type: Ferro-Fibrous
Armor
Value
Front: 18
R/L Side: 13
Rear: 10
Turret: 13
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Weapons and Ammo Location Tonnage
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2 Machine Guns Front 0.50
LRM 10 Turret 2.50
2 Medium Chemical Lasers Turret 2.00
ProtoMech AC/8 Turret 5.50
LRM 10 (Ammo 12) Body 1.00
Machine Gun (Ammo 100) Body 0.50
Medium Chemical Laser (Ammo 60) Body 2.00
ProtoMech AC/8 (Ammo 20) Body 2.00
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Alpha Strike Statistics
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Point Value (PV): 18
TP: CV, SZ: 1, TMM: 1, MV: 8"t
Damage: (S) 3 / (M) 3 / (L) 1
Armor (A): 2, Structure (S): 2
Specials: CASE, FC, IF1, SRCH, TUR(3/3/1, IF1)
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