VTOLAM: An old tech made new

The concept of Vertical Take-Off and Land-Air-Mech was a originally posited by the Rim Worlds Republic in 2764, with a prototype Locust having made “first flight”, but the project was abandoned as Stefan Amaris invested massive amounts of money into getting his coup in order. The blueprints were buried, lost to time on a random outpost. It was in 3144 that Interstellar Expedition and a unit of Jackson Jaguars found the research center in a remote dig, and restored the 25 tons Locust VTOLAM to service. While not impressed with the capabilities of the machine either, the Jaguars gave it up to IE in exchange for a few of the other machines recovered on site, including a Phoenix. It was through negotiations with Clan Hell’s Horse that IE actually made a decent return on investment, as the Horses were ready to purchase the technology to attempt to build more ‘mechs in their “hybrid mech/vehicle” lines. The moment they did this, House Steiner and the LCAF heard about it and jumped on the opportunity to build ‘mechs “comparable” to Clan Hell’s Horse. The bidding war had begun, but it wasn’t the one the Hell’s Horse were used to, it was a commercial one. At this point, both Clan Hell’s Horse and the LCAF have gotten their own version of the Locust VTOL in limited production, with prototypes of newly imagined redesigns, with the Hell’s Horse and LCAF trying to figure out how to make OmniVTOLAM as well.

Rules:

• A VTOLAM counts as a Battlemech at all time for purpose of hit locations, even when in VTOL mode, except that hit rolls of 2 (CT Critical) counts as a Rotor hit.

• The rotor can take up to 2 hits, the first hit causing a Piloting Skill penalty of +3 on all rolls while in VTOL mode.

  If the rotor is destroyed, the VTOLAM crashes, causing damage as if from a fall equal to the level it was flying. A successful PSR allows the pilot to only take 1 level of fall damage
• The VTOLAM can transform from one form to another during the movement phase if it is jumping or moving at cruising speed.
• The movement speed of the VTOLAM while in VTOL mode is equal to its jump range for Cruising Speed, time 1.5 for Flanking speed
• The conversion equipment for a VTOLAM weights 10% of the design weight, with a max weight of 35 tons. The conversion equipment requires one critical slot in each side torso for the rotor, and one in each leg. A critical hit to any of these locations disables the transformation of the VTOL, and it must revert to ‘mech mdoe if in VTOL mode.
• The VTOLAM can transform if it has all torsos and legs, but can lose its arms and still transform.
• A VTOLAM can use any equipment a normal battlemech can use, including speciality engine, gyros, armors, internal structure and musculatures.
• There is currently no options for omniVTOL, Clan Hell’s Horse is working on it.

Check out the Mohawk VTOL!