The Fulcrum is a fairly recent heavy grav tank using captured TOG weapon technology.
This is a fan-made contribution.
Production History[]
The Fulcrum is the interesting result of a lucky break that almost amounted to nothing. It began with a routine high-speed raid against a minor TOG outpost orbiting a backwater planet in the Darak sector. Soon after dropping out of T-space, the handful of Commonwealth corvettes and fighters assigned to the mission found themselves burning towards twice the number of fighters they expected to be guarding the facility. Cursing their bad intel, they readied themselves for a glancing strike, hoping to minimize their losses.
As they approached, however, they discovered that most of the TOG fighters were of an unknown type and appeared hesitant to engage. Seizing the moment, the Commonwealth squadron cancelled their primary mission and adjusted their objective to disable and capture one of the TOG prototypes.
While the captured interceptor itself proved to be nothing worthwhile, the real prize was two examples of TOG’s newly developed cone lasers. The Commonwealth brass wasted no time in assigning a team of top engineers to reverse-engineer them and send them off for manufacture.
Unfortunately, not a single interceptor manufacturer was interested in using the cone lasers. While their damage profile was unusual, their weight and power consumption made them awkward to use. TPPs and EPCs were both lighter, while NPCs excelled at range. There was little compelling reason to choose a cone laser over more traditional particle weaponry.
The one area where the cone laser proved to be useful was in atmosphere, where beam attenuation made particle weapons useless. In the end, it was the Albedo Design Group that approached the committee and took possession of the newly manufactured CLs, not for an interceptor, but for a grav tank. The prototype model for cone laser use was named Fulcrum.
With testing and field trials complete, the Fulcrum has begun deliveries to active-duty units.
Design Philosophy and Tactical Role[]
While cone lasers may have little advantage in interceptor engagements, it is a very different game dirtside, where particle cannon cannot operate. Here, the CL´s broad conical damage profile provides a new and unparalleled armor undercutting ability. The Fulcrum was developed to mount two of these new CLs in its turret, each mounted alongside a sturdy 200mm gauss cannon along with a standard 1.5/4 laser that rides underslung of the gauss. Another 1.5/5 laser in the hull provides additional penetration capabilities, while a class-15 GMDC is equally effective against targets both hard and soft. Two TLVG-6 launchers round out the mix of weapons, mounted along the sides and midway towards the back of the tank.
Engaging its full complement of weapons, the Fulcrum can use its GMDC to spall off the outer layers of the target’s armour, the 1.5 lasers to create a hole or two, and follow it up with its twin CLs to attempt and undercut the rest of the armour right off. Once accomplished, the 200mm and TVLGs can make short work of the target’s innards.
On the defensive side, the Fulcrum mounts strong shields and pairs it with 10 tons of armour protecting all major facings. A Vulcan-IV system sits atop the turret, ready to intercept any incoming missiles. As might be expected, the Fulcrum is a big beast and tips the scales at 400 tons, and even the huge 2500-rated engine can only manage a 4 g acceleration. This is, however, on par with most other heavy tanks, allowing the Fulcrum to keep up with its combat group.
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Legionnaire RPG Values: Fulcrum[]
| Hit Location | Sub-Location | Damage Boxes / Damage |
|---|---|---|
| [1] Structure | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] [][][][][] |
| [2] Commander | - | [][][][][] |
| [3] Shields | - | [][][][][] [][][][] |
| [4] Engines / Thrust | - | [][][][] ::: Thrust 4 g |
| [5] Armour | - | [][][][][] [][][][][] |
| [6] Pilot | [][][][][] | |
| [7] Weapon Computers | - | [][][][] |
| [8] Sensors | - | [][][] |
| [9] Gunner | - | [][][][][] |
| [10] Weapons | [1] 200mm | Damage 20 |
| - | [2] Vulcan-4 | * |
| [3] Cone Laser | 10* | |
| [4] Cone Laser | 10* | |
| [5] 1.5/5 Laser | 2 | |
| [6] 1.5/4 Laser | 2 | |
| [7] GMDC-15 | 5 (3 shots per combat round)** | |
| [8] TVLG-6 | 10 points per missile | |
| - | [9] TVLG-6 | 10 points per missile |
*The Cone Laser has no official damage value in the Legionnaire rulebook. The damage value of 10 has been extrapolated.
**The Gatling Mass Driver Cannon has no official damage value in the Legionnaire rulebook. The damage value of 5 has been extrapolated.
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Game Notes[]
Cone Lasers work the same in ground combat as they do in space as well as following all the general Centurion rules for lasers. Cone Lasers have a range of 20 and do damage equal to their 15 point damage template. As with regular lasers, Cone Lasers are affected by shields and benefit from target painting.
NOTE: The Fulcrum is a non-canon fan design by Kannik and the above rules for using CLs in Centurion combat are house rules.