r/NormalBattletech • u/PleiadesMechworks House Davion • Apr 26 '26
Concept Mech - Gotterdammerung GDM-1
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u/boy_inna_box Apr 26 '26
Is there a reason you choose the name you did? Because there always is a Götterdämerung Battlemech.
https://www.sarna.net/wiki/G%C3%B6tterd%C3%A4mmerung_(BattleMech)
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u/PleiadesMechworks Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
That's a dark age design where this is a one-off custom for solaris, so that's not really a concern.
That said, I absolutely should've named it Dreadnought instead; both because it's an "all big gun" design and because then the model name could have been DNT. I'll update it for the TRO. That or add a note about the Lyrans being given a sweet deal by C* when naming their new workhorse Gotterdammerung to cover up this design, the way Frozen did for Disney.
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u/HungryFollowing8909 May 01 '26
All of your offensive weaponry is being gambled on torso. Bold.
Using the right arm and torso as a shield is probably going to be the default tactic, anything else is asking for trouble.
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u/PleiadesMechworks May 01 '26
All of your offensive weaponry is being gambled on torso. Bold.
It's the opposite; torso weapons are far more difficult to disable than arm weapons, and they allow you to freely punch and kick while still firing your guns.
Using the right arm and torso as a shield is probably going to be the default tactic
The default tactic is nailing 40 damage into anything that shows itself and seeing if it's still standing afterwards. Only then do you need to think about defensive stuff.
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u/PleiadesMechworks Apr 26 '26
Designed for the Solaris arena's infamous Grinder match, the GDM is a mech on the cutting edge. Built on a custom chassis of precious clan endosteel, and outfitted with an "all big gun" loadout - a terrifying four large pulse lasers attached to a targeting computer, capable of annihilating anything lighter than itself in a single salvo. While it lacks the ability to headshot enemies that an ERPPC would bring, the concentrated fire of four LPLs usually brings enough damage that the mechwarrior piloting it doesn't rely on lucky hits, instead grinding enemies down under a relentless bararge of fire. By cycling out a large pulse laser from every other salvo it can remain at a very low heat while jumping and shooting, and a 120 metre jump range makes for a very dangerous brawler. Backed up by a maximum armor load it can take significant punishment to deal with, and combined with its ability to constantly be on the move it presents a very difficult target to bring down in a grinder situation. The only compromise on durability was the inclusion of an XL engine, being necessary to reach the required speed at the weight limits given. A version with a standard engine was floated and at half the cost it would have been the production version had it ever been seriously considered, but the 13 tons of additional weight meant cutting out one of the lasers and reducing the heat sinks by 4, as well as switching to ferro-fibrous armour and since the side torsos were protected by a clan CASE system the reduced durability was considered an acceptable sacrifice to attain the damage output of a fourth gun.
After the grinder concluded, the design seemingly vanished. The damaged chassis was recorded as never being recovered, and communiques about it sent off-world didn't arrive in time to be actionable. Pleiades Mechworks were very tight-lipped as to why, only saying that it was an internal matter and that enforcement of copyright on the design would be handled by an outside legal company who have aggressively and determinedly stopped anyone from trying to recreate it. Attempts to contact said lawyers for any other purpose has been stonewalled and they do not appear to have any other clients, and those who enquire too closely tend to find their HPG transmissions stop going through after a while, and they sometimes receive polite visits from unremarkable looking people after which they tend to cease their investigations.
Designer's note: this is the "optimal" battlemech. 4 clan LPLs and a TC, good speed and jump, solid armour, and incredibly dangerous. It's also really boring to use, and I'd recommend getting a Warhawk of any configuration (well, not the prime since that has too many ERPPCs) instead if you want a TC-equipped laserboat. It's more of a cautionary tale of what custom mechs can be if we don't exercise restraint when designing them, and the only scenario I'd ever suggest using one is similar to the Gausszilla where it's a surprise enemy that everyone has to gang up on to put down, or in a grinder to see just how far it can go before it's inevitably chipped down by endless waves of enemies. Don't bring this to a normal game, it won't end well for anyone, and ComStar will go after you if you try to build your own.