Code:
Praetorium HQSV M25
Mass: 25 tons
Tech Base: Inner Sphere
Motive Type: Wheeled
Rules Level: Advanced Rules
Era: All Eras (non-canon)
Tech Rating/Era Availability: D/X-X-F-A
Production Year: 0
Cost: 367,875 C-Bills
Battle Value: 256
Power Plant: 105 Fuel Cell Engine
Cruise Speed: 54.0 km/h
Flanking Speed: 86.4 km/h
Armor: Standard Armor
Armament:
1 Light Machine Gun
1 Communications Equipment (3.0 tons)
1 Drone Control System (2.5 tons)
1 Infantry Compartment (1.0 tons)
1 Cargo, Standard (3.5 tons)
Manufacturer:
Primary Factory:
Communications System:
Targeting and Tracking System:
================================================================================[/size]
The Carrus Praetorium is the most common headquarters vehicle among the armed forces of the Marian Hegemony and is slowly making inroads across the Periphery and the Inner Sphere thanks to the MH exports. The CP, as many Hegemony soldiers call it, is quite popular with field commanders. The CP is essentially a Carrus heavy APC outfitted with communications equipment and a few other features. This base vehicle was not well received by field commanders; they despised it. Field commanders throughout the Legiones Marianes decried the Carrus as a classic case of placing all of your eggs in one basket, so to speak. The Carrus was designed to transport a century of infantry, bean-counters argued that it reduced logistics requirements by half over the traditional transport of two heavy APCs. Field commanders counted by arguing that an entire century could be destroyed with a single blow. In the end the field commanders won the argument and few century APCs were deployed. The Carrus, however was designed to fill a multitude of roles, not just serve as a century APC.
The headquarters variant, the Carrus Praetorium, is of course the best known variant of the vehicle. With regards to its abilities as an HQ vehicle it is not exceptional. Like most other HQ vehicles the CP has space for a staff meeting around a video tech plotting table. The communications suite, of which the plotting table is a part of, is far from cutting edge, based on a system Comstar designed during the Third Succession War. Though old the communications suite is robust, reliable, relatively simple to operate and easy and cheap to maintain. What makes the CP notable and popular with its users is the integrated drone control equipment.
Drones are not common in most armed forces but commanders that have access to them find them very useful as it can provide firsthand knowledge of events, commanders are not totally reliant on information filtered through the chain of command. The CP’s drone control system only has a single control station but most commanders consider that adequate. The CP comes equipped with four drones for redundancy: two Scolopendra tracked types AKA Scolos, and two Colubris VTOL types AKA Colos. The aft section of the CP’s cavernous interior is sectioned off for storage of the Scolos and maintenance of all four drones. The two Colos are stored on the roof of the APC to make launch and recovery simpler. Both drones have remarkable endurance, no armament, and virtually no protection, they are simply for surveillance work.
The Scolo has a range of about 1,000 km, few travel that far from there base stations; the battery life is to allow the drone to remain on station for an extended period without need for support of any kind. The battery system might seem an unusual choice for locomotion but fuel cells, the up and coming power system for military vehicles, generate a lot of heat and that heat could compromise the drone when on station. The Colo relies on a fuel cell however since it required a higher power density from power plant.
Deployment
The Legiones Marianes has been saturated with CPs for many years. Once their requirements were met the CP was authorized for export and has been distributed quite widely; it has been seen as far afield as the Federated Suns. Admittedly that particular vehicle belongs to the mercenary company Hogan’s Guards.
Code:
================================================================================
Equipment Type Rating Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure: Standard 15 points 2.50
Engine: Fuel-Cell Engine 105 4.50
Cruise MP: 5
Flank MP: 8
Heat Sinks: Single Heat Sink 1 0.00
Control Equipment: 1.50
Lift Equipment: 0.00
Turret: 0.50
Armor: Standard Armor AV - 80 5.00
Armor
Factor
Front 20
Left/Right 15/15
Turret 16
Rear 14
================================================================================
Equipment Location Heat Spaces Mass
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Light Machine Gun T 0 1 0.50
Communications Equipment (3.0 tons) BD 0 1 3.00
Drone Control System (2.5 tons) BD 0 1 2.50
Infantry Compartment (1.0 tons) BD 0 1 1.00
Cargo, Standard (3.5 tons) BD 0 1 3.50
@LMG (1/2) (100) BD - 0 0.50
BattleForce Statistics
MV S (+0) M (+2) L (+4) E (+6) Wt. Ov Armor: 3 Points: 3
5w 1 1 0 0 1 0 Structure: 2
Special Abilities: EE, TUR(1/1/0)
Type: Scolopendra Tracked Drone
Chassis Type: Tracked (Small)
Mass: 1500 kg
Equipment Rating: D/X-D-C/D
Equipment Mass
Chassis/Controls: 98 kg
Engine/Trans: Electric (Battery) 432 kg
Cruise MP: 6 / 64.8 KPH
Flank MP: 9 / 97.2 KPH
Heat Sinks: 0 0 kg
Fuel: 1,000 km 216 kg
Turret: None
Armor Factor (BAR: 2): 8 104 kg
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Front 1 2
R/L Side 1 2/2
Rear 1 2
Weapons & Ammo Location Mass
None - -
Crew: None
Cargo: None
Notes: Features Ultra-Light Chassis and Controls Modifications, Drone Control Equipment* (150 kg),
Drone Sensor Equipment* (500 kg)
Type: Colubris Drone VTOL
Chassis Type: VTOL (Small)
Mass: 750 kg
Equipment Rating: D/X-D-C/D
Equipment Mass
Chassis/Controls: 75 kg
Engine/Trans: Electric (Fuel Cell) 80 kg
Cruise MP: 7 / 75.6 KPH
Flank MP: 11 / 118.8 KPH
Heat Sinks: 0 0 kg
Fuel: 0.012 kg/km 1,666 km, Endurance: 22 Hrs 20 kg
Turret: None
Armor Factor (BAR: 2): 0 0 kg
Internal Armor
Structure Value
Front 1 0
R/L Side 1 0/0
Rear 1 0
Weapons & Ammo Location Mass
None - -
Crew: None
Cargo: None
Notes: Features Ultra-Light Chassis and Controls Modifications, Drone Control Equipment* (75 kg),
Drone Sensor Equipment* (500 kg)