Smoke Jaguar Dossier: Manticore Heavy Tank

Smoke Jaguar Dossier       

Type: Vehicle

Name: Manticore Heavy Tank

Vehicle Type: Tracked

Weight: 60 Tons

Tech Base: Inner Sphere

Description:
The Manticore is one of the best-designed and most powerful tanks ever created, built to combat BattleMechs in support of infantry formations. Although the Manticore mounts a variety of weapons to handle a variety of combat roles and ranges, and is heavily armored for a vehicle of its weight, it is not equipped to deal with the raw firepower of super-heavy vehicles such as the Demolisher or the Behemoth. Despite this lack, the popularity of the Manticore has remained high, even during the Succession Wars era with its use of a expensive and rare Fusion Engine.

Originally developed by TechniCorp during the Reunification War, the destruction of the companies head office on Terra during the Amaris Coup spread the Manticore across the Inner Sphere as other manufacturers absorbed their facilities.

Armament:
The tank's main weapon is the Parti-Kill PPC, backed up by a SureShot Mk VI SRM-6 rack. The SRM is mounted on top of the main turret, just above and behind the particle cannon. It is mounted on vertical and horizontal swivel mounts, giving the pack a full 120-degree arc of fire independent of the turret. Both PPC and SRM are supported in their respective range brackets by a Far Fire Medium Missile Rack and OMI High Burn Medium Laser. 

Variants:
3058 - With the rediscovery of Star League lostech, Defiance Industries developed an upgraded version that focuses using advanced tech to improve the tanks weapon array, while retaining as much of original design as possible to ensure easy field upgrade of existing Manticores. The PPC was replaced with a Large Pulse Laser, trading a slight reduction in range for increased accuracy. The removal of the medium laser and associated heat sinks in exchange for a Streak SRM-2 rack freeing up space and weight to add Artemis IV FCS to the original SRM and LRM racks. For increased survivability, Defiance increased the Manticore's protection by upgrading its armor to Durallex Super Ferro-Fibrous.


Captain Nash's Mission #1 Analysis:  Solid all around tank.  Capable at all ranges.  You can bet that the solohama units that have these are using the upgraded variants with the Large Pulse lasers.  Getting around to the rear armor will be your quickest way to eliminate this threat.

Tech Readout:
http://www.solaris7.com/TRO/Vehicle/VehicleInfo.asp?ID=660