The One And Only King Of ‘Mechs – We Breakdown The UrbanMech
The UrbanMech is the undisputed king of Battlemechs, emerging from the shadows like an inspiring triumph of design and engineering.
When it comes to the various Battlemechs of the Inner Sphere, and indeed, the Clans, there is only one ‘Mech fit to tower above them all, even if it doesn’t actually tower over very many of them. And that ‘Mech is the UrbanMech. This legendary light ‘Mech was designed to be cheap, easily produced, and able to thrive in the dense confines of a Star League City.
But why does this little upside down trash can of a ‘Mech capture the hearts and minds of everyone throughout the Inner Sphere? And where did it come from in the first place? And what, exactly, is an UrbanMech?
UrbanMech – Design and Capabilities
The UrbanMech was renowned for its low profile. This was because, as the name implies, the UrbanMech was designed for urban combat and defense. And in the tight, often labyrinthine confines of a Star League city, an UrbanMech’s low silhouette meant that it could hide behind buildings that would hamper other ‘Mechs.
The UrbanMech was also ubiquitous throughout the Inner Sphere. This was because itwas designed to be as cheap and easy to produce as possible, while still being a functional and safe weapons platform. Thus, an UrbanMech was heavily armored, moutning six tons of Durallex armor on its chassis, making it as tough as many medium ‘Mechs. But the UrbanMech boasted superior maneuverability thanks to the Pitban 6000 jump jets, mounted in pairs that gave it a surprising jumping distance.
Of course the UrbanMech is not total perfection. After all, total perfection is an unachievable ideal. And its designers wanted to give other ‘Mechs an opportunity to feel better about themselves. So, the UrbanMech could only mount a Leenex 60 engine, making it the slowest light ‘Mech in the Inner Sphere. Which meant that if an UrbanMech was caught out of cover, it would be picked apart pretty handily by heavy weapons.
However, UrbanMech pilots understand that their ‘Mech is meant to work with the terrain. And thus are able to bring its considerable weaponry to bear. The main variant of the UrbanMech was an Imperator-B AC/10 autocannon, as well as a Light small laser, allowing an UrbanMech, or better still a whole Lance of them, to harass and down ‘Mechs well over twice their size. While ammunition was limited, UrbanMechs excelled in hunting prey and downing it quickly before falling back to safer locales.
Other common variants included switching in a heavy AC/20, a small Pulse Laser, or even a PPC and Electronic Countermeasure suites.
History Of A Sublime ‘Mech
The UrbanMech rose to popularity in 2675, when Orguss Industries manufactured them en masse. When the Orguss facilities were destroyed, the unit left production for a while, though it eventually was reinitiated at the Betelgeuse facility of Hellespont Industrials, who continued to manufacture them through to the modern era.
Which meant that these ‘Mechs existed in every army of the Inner Sphere. After the Succession Wars, they were some of the only ‘Mechs still in use, because of their ubiquity and the fact that many commanders didn’t want to commit them to battle in open field warfare because of how slow they could be.
However, when the need for ‘Mechs arose, the tiny ‘Mech’s superior numbers were ready to answer, joining the Capellan Defense Force, Tikonov Republican Guard, and many more. When the Capellan Confederation discovered reserves of LosTech, the mighty UrbanMech was first in line for a much needed upgrade, that made it even deadlier.
And to this day, the UrbanMech remains the king of ‘Mechs.
