Combat Vehicle Technical Readout
Name/Model: Paul PL-50A
Designer: Captain_Frosty
Source(s): Custom Mordel.Net Units
Technology: Inner Sphere
Technology Rating: D
Tonnage: 50
Role: Skirmisher
Configuration: Combat Vehicle
Era/Year: Clan Invasion / 3050
Rules (Current): Introductory
Rules (Era): Introductory
Rules (Year): Introductory
Total Cost: 2,219,000 C-Bills
Battle Value: 998
Movement Type: Hover
Power Plant: Fuse-Tec '50 165
Cruising Speed: 86.4 kph
Maximum Speed: 129.6 kph
Armor: BSM Combat plating
Armament:
1 Saria Inc. 'Perceptor' PPC
1 Saria Inc. Model 1b 'Medium' Medium Laser
1 Fuse-Tec 'Heatwave' Flamer Flamer
Manufacturer: Blackshield State Manufacturing
Primary Factory: Tertiaron, Ducon
Communications: SamCo 'Callmaster' 3050
Targeting & Tracking: Saria Inc. 'Snipershot' v3
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Overview:
Lovingly nicknamed after it's original designer, the Paul PL-50 began it's development in
3047 as another attempt from the Blackshield Company's R&D department to meet the
increasingly unreasonable demands of the military branch.
The initial request called for a heavily armored, heavily armed, fast moving and flank
resistant frontline breakthrough vehicle with minimal logistics requirements. The result was
the originally named BSA 'Hover Assault Gun' or 'HAG'. Said original design comprised of a
modified Cavalier chassis with it's large laser and flamer placed into the front hull while
the turret and SRM 4 were removed altogether.
This modification resulted in a subpar result which seemed to only barely meet the
prerequisites established by the military branch, a result which was taken very personally
by Chief Engineer Paul Bauer. In the midst of a caffeine fueled delirium which lasted 17
hours and resulted in his hospitalization by the next day, Chief Paul redesigned the project
from scratch and created over 70% of the final design which would be finished by the end of
the week by his concerned coworkers.
This is the design which came to be known as the Paul PL-50A. Utilizing a sizeable fusion
engine, the 50 ton PL-50A Hover tank is armed with a Particle Projector cannon as it's main
gun, a medium laser as a backup weapon and a flamer for anti-personnel purposes, all mounted
on the front hull along with the most armor.
It's cruising speed rests at an impressive 85kmh whereas it's flank speed can reach up to
125kmh, granting it an advantage in mobility only surpassed by WiGE craft and aircraft.
Capabilities:
The PL-50A 'Paul' is a fast moving, hard hitting, heavily armored vehicle whose only
significant downside is the lack of a turret. With its ability to flank enemy units in most
situations, the PL-50A is best utilized as a combination scout and breakthrough vehicle,
sowing chaos across enemy lines while slower units with a larger variety of weapons close
the gap.
Thanks to the PPC, it can also provide long range supporting fire when needed. Combined with
the aforementioned high speed, it is borderline impossible to escape the PL-50A's reach
unless the tank's own user allows it.
Deployment:
The PL-50A 'Paul' is best utilized as a blitzing weapon, forcing the enemy to immediately
redirect their focus to it or face the reality of a PPC deep into the back-lines. In
situations the disallow its high speed and flanking potential, the PL-50A 'Paul' can also
act as a secondary sniper, though the lack of a targeting computer and existence of ECM
means that it is unlikely to excel at such a role.
When used in pairs, the PL-50A 'Paul' can truly shine as each tank surrounds the enemy from
opposite sides and throw formations into disarray, allowing their allies the time to access
vantage points and optimize their positioning before truly engaging the enemy. In case said
enemy mistakenly assumes this to be an opportunity to 'divide and conquer' it is recommended
to abuse that mindset; enter the enemy's back lines and continuously use flanking shots at
short range using all of the PL-50A's weapons while the rest of your forces focus on
defensive positioning.
Variants:
Two alternative designs were introduced one year after the original model's completion.
The PL-50B was an attempt at a missile focused design, replacing the PPC with an LRM-10 and
an SRM-6, both located in the front hull. While succeeding in it's intended purpose, the
designed was deemed too reliant on a steady supply chain and was thus never fielded in any
great numbers.
The PL-50L was another attempt at focusing more on missiles, developed in parallel with the
PL-50B. The PL-50L design replaced the PPC and over half of it's armor in order to mount an
Arrow IV Missile Artillery system and 4 tons of ammunition, with half that being homing
munitions and the other half non-homing.
This variant of the Paul is fielded regularly across the Blackshield Company's military
units thanks to it's incredible speed and resultant ability to perform 'fire-&-relocate'
maneuvers with great efficiency, practically nullifying the risk of counter-artillery fire
while also allowing fire support to be deployed at an unprecedented pace.
Notable MechWarriors:
None; even if a vehicle crew did attain fame, it would only be in the territories of the
Blackshield Company and thus of no significance to the major powers.
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Equipment Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 5.00
Engine: 165 Fusion 10.00
Cruising MP: 8
Flanking MP: 12
Heat Sinks (Single): 16 6.00
Control Equipment: 2.50
Lift Equipment: 5.00
Power Amplifier: 0.00
Turret: 0.00
Armor Factor: 200 12.50
Type: Standard
Armor
Value
Front: 60
R/L Side: 50
Rear: 40
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Weapons and Ammo Location Tonnage
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flamer Front 1.00
Medium Laser Front 1.00
PPC Front 7.00
================================================================================================
Alpha Strike Statistics
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Point Value (PV): 38
TP: CV, SZ: 2, TMM: 3, MV: 16"h
Damage: (S) 2 / (M) 2 / (L) 1
Armor (A): 7, Structure (S): 2
Specials: ENE, SRCH
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