’Mech Manual: Avatar AV1-O
With the capture of a large number of Clan OmniMechs during the battles of the early 3050s, the Draconis Combine tasked Luthien Armor Works with reverse engineering the technology of the invaders. The Avatar was one of several Inner Sphere OmniMechs that came out of that effort. It started the design process as modifications to a 60-ton Mad Dog but through several years of iterations and lessons learned from the first few Inner Sphere OmniMechs to reach production, emerged as a 70-ton design.
Thanks to the cooperation between the Great Houses that was necessary in the face of the Clan invasion, the Avatar proliferated throughout the Inner Sphere. Production from the LAW factory was split between the Draconis Combine, ComStar, and the Federated Commonwealth. Then designs were also shared with StarCorps Industries and Victory Industries to allow for production throughout the Inner Sphere. Thanks to open sales and multiple factories, the Avatar has been widely available to all of the major nations in the Inner Sphere as well as mercenaries for nearly a century now.
Read This First
- Use your autocannon and LRMs at range
- Switch from LRMs to your medium lasers once you close the range
- Damage to your side torsos can quickly find explosive ammo, so be careful once the armor there is low
Avatar AV1-O
- Role: Brawler
- Tech Base: Inner Sphere (3056)
- Chassis: 70 tons
- Movement: 4 / 6, XL
- Armor: 192
- Heat Sinks: 10 (20)
- Weapons:
- LB 10-X AC (ammo: 10 standard, 10 cluster)
- LRM 10 w/ Artemis IV × 2 (ammo: 36)
- Medium Pulse Laser × 2
- Medium Laser × 2
- Machine Gun × 2 (ammo: 200)
- Equipment:
- Design Quirks:
- Stabilized Weapons (Medium Lasers)
- Battle Value: 1,395
Mobility
The Avatar is not capable of matching the maneuverability of the Clan OmniMechs used as its basis. Rather than the 5 / 8 movement profile of the Mad Dog, it instead moves at a battle line speed of 4 / 6. That means that at best, it is capable of achieving a +2 target movement modifier. The primary configuration also does not mount any jump jets.
Durability
The Avatar is not the most durable design for its tonnage. It only carries 88% of the armor that a 70-ton chassis is capable of mounting. Under the armor, the Inner Sphere XL engine means that the loss of either side torso will knock it out of action. Worsening that vulnerability, each side torso has 3 out of its 10 critical slots filled with explosive ammunition. Even with CASE protection any of those slots being hit will stop the Avatar in its tracks.
Weaponry
In its primary configuration, the Avatar’s armament is centered on an LB 10-X autocannon and two LRM 10 launchers with Artemis IV. At shorter ranges, those are supported by two medium lasers and two medium pulse lasers. Then for anti-infantry work, it has a pair of machine guns.
Maximum and Expected Damage
The arrangement of the AV1-O’s weapons is split between its torsos and arms. The autocannon and two pulse lasers are in the arms ad enjoy wider firing arcs. Importantly, that gives the pulse lasers the ability to fire at any opponents that manage to get behind the Avatar. The rest of the weapons are then in the torsos which restricts their firing arcs but also decreases the chances of losing them early in a battle. In games using quirks, the torso medium lasers benefit from Stabilized Weapons allowing them to be more accurate when the Avatar is on the move.
Maximum Damage for Firing Arcs
Most of the AV1-O’s weapons require ammunition, but it carries more than enough for most engagements. The autocannon can be fired 10 times in each mode. The LRMs can both be fired 18 times. Then a ton of ammo for the two machine guns will likely last through an entire campaign.
Heat Management
The AV1-OA’s 10 double heat sinks are enough to keep it cool under most situations. With an alpha strike, its weapons can generate 24 heat, but between the short range for the pulse lasers and the minimum range of the LRMs, a MechWarrior will generally have an easy time deciding which weapons to use within its heat budget.
Heat-Adjusted Maximum and Expected Damage
Brawling
With no hands and only one lower arm, the AV1-O is not configured to be throwing punches. When a target is within reach, a kick for 14 damage will usually be the Avatar’s best choice.
OmniMech Chassis
As an OmniMech, the Avatar can have its pod-mounted equipment swapped out between missions. It can carry 34 tons of equipment in addition to the two fixed medium lasers in its center torso. Because it doesn’t make use of either endo steel or ferro fibrous armor, the Avatar has a large number of slots available for pods.
Capacity34 tonsHead1 slotCenter TorsononeRight Torso8 slotsLeft Torso8 slotsRight Arm8-10 slotsLeft Arm8-10 slotsRight Leg2 slotsLeft Leg2 slots
As an OmniMech, the Avatar can also serve as a transport for a squad of battle armor. Its battle line speed is not the best for delivery, and the primary configuration’s torso-mounted missiles mean that it sacrifices a large portion of its long-range firepower while carrying a squad.
Miniature
A plastic Avatar miniature is included in the House Kurita Ranger Lance force pack. It is in the primary configuration, but can be used to represent any of them in a game.
Playtest Notes
If the rules previewed in the recent playtest are adopted, then that will change the Avatar’s performance a bit. The changes to CASE will mean that it has a chance to survive an ammo explosion it its side torsos.
Sources
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#Avatar #BattleTech #MechManual
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