Gods is it hot out here.

Tellawan’s sun splayed down scattered light on the Althen range, casting the vast red desert before us in the long skulking shadows of Mount Kalnen’s peaks. Shimmering waves of heat played amongst the golden rays and swirling dust, clouding Equalizer’s sensors as she scanned for the wandering bandit lance; leaving me to gaze out at the horizon from our vantage point. minutes passed spent peering through my visor and the twisting miasma for anything to mark out our targets.  

There was little more than dust, scrub and rock.

Thready ghost white clouds drifted through the pale gray sky set by the occasional, circling speck. If it was Buzzard and her flight of Saroyans doing an overflight pass or a flock of Tarthan Vultures on the prowl for something to feast on I wasn’t entirely sure. Doc ground to a halt at my side in his Merlin as Cowpuncher and Batta dropped down behind us on pillars of smoke and roiling dust in their Marshals. Cowpuncher staggered forward a few steps before catching himself and falling in at Doc’s side before keying his comm. “Ringo, you sure they’re out here?”

“If he isn’t, I am.” Buzzard grunted, the faint howl of her bomber’s engines creeping into the line as the cluster of specks banked and pulled toward the east. “Got them moving westward at fifty an hour. ‘Bout two clicks out and to your southwest.”

“Any spot on what they’re packin’, Buzzard?” I asked, reaching up to trip Equalizer’s old Orator.

“Somethin’ big in there…” She mumbled, her engines spinning down to a soft whine as she turned back in, her distant speck descending. “Somethin’ real big. Looks li- INCOMING”

A puff of smoke popped amidst her formation, followed by another and then another until the sky around them was more smoke, fire and shrapnel than air. The distant pop-thump of flak shells kicking off rang out across the dunes. Their shocks buffeted the light bombers as Buzzard and her pilots wove erratic patterns and laid down all the thrusters had to push the little craft as hard and fast as they could go. 

“DUST LANCE DEFENDING.” Buzzard shouted as her flight screamed over our heads with a trail of popping flack chasing after them.

“Buzzard?” I asked, a tight knot of worry in my chest as the soft pitter-patter of light fragments raining down on Equalizer’s armor rang through the cockpit. The deluge was barely audible under the cacophonous clap of the passing Saroyans, two trailing thick black smoke as they blasted through the sound barrier. 

Buzzard breathed a sigh of relief as her and her lance rolled around the mountain at our backs, disappearing with the rolling thunder of their thrusters. “Christ. Ringo they got a pair of old Rifleman and a Centurion down there guarding some big bruiser, might’ve been an assault.”

“Any plausible ID on the Assault?”

“Not sure, computer didn’t get a full read. Looked like one of those beefed up Clan Phoenix Hawks of some kind. Hacker says he saw it take a swing at us with a stick or something.”

Bucker. Finally crawled out of your hole then?

“A Clan Assault? Out here? I think we found your missin’ Bandit King, Marshal.” Doc laughed, bringing Pan’s arms up to low ready.

“Probably right, Deputy.” I agreed, sending power to Equalizer’s gauss rifle before feeding another load into the long range box. “Means it’s time to get to work.”

“You heard the man, saddle up and get moving.” Doc called, I could all but hear the grin on the man’s face as he fell in at my right.

“You three start hammerin’ them Riflemans and that Centurion the moment you get the chance, get the sky clear for Buzzard and hers to come back in on an approach.”

“What about that Assault, Marshal?” Cowpuncher asked, as he brought Bessie into position opposite Doc.

“A steady hand and a keen eye, Deputy. I know Bucker well enough. If I grab his attention then there won’t be another thing in the world what matters to him. He’s got a score to settle and we’ve got a job to do.”

“Aye.” “Too right, Ringo.” “Aff, Marshal.”

A lance of shifting shadows moved in the dust, stark outlines trudging towards us as I raised Equalizer’s arm, signaling my lancemates to stop as I switched the Orator over to an all channel cast. “Bucker. I’m callin’ you out. Get your ass out here.”

“Marshal Daven,” Bucker growled, the forms of his lance coalescing from the miasma, clad in splotchy fire patterns and faded kill marks, “how nice of you to finally show your face around here again.”

“I’m not the one who ran off with his tail between his legs in the lesser half of an Axman, if’n I remember correctly.”

“No, you’re not.” He acquiesced, the hulking mass of his Phoenix Hawk IIC striding forward as he swung its left arm wide, the vast hatchet gripped in its right hand dragging through the desert sand. “But I ain’t running now; and I sure as hell don’t intend to let you go anywhere this time.”

“I’m takin’ you down, Bucker. Dead or Alive you’re comin’ with me.” I hissed back, stalking him for just another precious moment.

“Big talk for someone staring down eighty tons of assa-” 

His retort was cut off as I let a slug slip free, the sharp crack of the gauss firing accompanied by the clapping POP and shrill howl of the missile’s kicker charges sending them corkscrewing through the gray sky. A shower of sparks and shattered armor flew free from the beast’s hatchet arm as the rounds slammed into the elbow, shearing it clean off. 

“Try me.”

– Marshal Alan ‘Ringo’ Burch, Tellawan, Fronc Reaches Colonial Marshals 1st Expeditionary Regiment. August 3149.

—

Howdy Mechwarriors and welcome to another Mech Overview! This time around we’re looking at the Orion, with several variants that are absolute bricks and several that are not. I quite like Orion’s and one appears somewhere in all of my forces except for the GMGM, for obvious reasons. There’s something about that boxy, kind of ungainly shape to it that really tickles my brain for that ‘shitbucket warmachine’ look.

They also paint up incredibly well and have a lot of variants- 20 to be precise when considering the IIC and the custom variants -which means there’s probably an Orion to do anything you might need! We’ve got brawlers, we’ve got snipers, we’ve got skirmishers and we’ve got survivable bricks of armor! The primary drawback is that they all mount some form of autocannon, gauss rifle or missile launcher which means they are full of explosives. Early Orions either consume all the fire thrown at them for an entire game or explode in a cacophony of fire, death and rent metal.

Things are fuckin hilarious.

My clan advisor has required me to inform you that she thinks the IIC is the second best of the Orions, behind the grandeur of Kerensky’s own machine of course. Also that Burton guy is an asshole to think he could modify a machine so near to perfection.

Chassis

The Orion weighs in as a 75 ton Heavy that largely focuses on finding a balance between the armor and armament portions of the triangle, hoping to whittle down enemies before they can put it down rather than outmaneuvering them. None of the Orion’s go faster than 4/6, with only the Primitive variants being 3/5 and one variant of the IIC  being 4/6/4 (specifically the one that upsets my advisor). Just about all of them, except for the Primitives, have near around a full armor load for a 75 tonner. As well they have the standard weapons load of a big gun in the right torso, some missiles on the left side and a laser in each arm.

This makes for a pretty consistent machine. If you see an Orion you kinda know what you’re going to get.

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

ON1-C

The OG junk bucket.

This thing is bad. It’s a primitive ‘mech with primitive armor, and not fucking much of it, a primitive cockpit and an open side torso that is just full on empty. Armed with an AC/5, with one ton of ammo, a pair of medium lasers and ten single heat sinks this is… not much for a 75 tonner. Also it goes 3/5. Yuk.

Primitive cockpits are horrid and impose a whole bunch of maluses to the pilot in the chair. Stack that with the mediocre armament and, even for 973 BV, this thing is not worth it. At least it doesn’t have heat problems, I suppose?

Liberty’s Rating: F. He craves death and not in the usual funny ways.

ON1-H

Another Primitive! Oh boy!

This is a rebuild/upgrade of the 1-C that keeps the speed but buffs up the guns and armor. Kinda. At the least the armor is AC/20 proof all over, which will be the unchanging standard from here on in Orion land.

The guns are now the same pair of Medium Lasers, an SRM 4, with one ton of ammo, a pair of LRM 5s, with one ton of ammo total, and a Primitive AC/10. There are no extra heat sinks to handle these changes which means a short range alpha strike sends you up +4 on the heat scale. At 1307 BV this is no better than the 1-C.

Primitive ‘mechs are pain.

Liberty’s Rating: F+. At least it’s more survivable and that torso isn’t empty anymore? Still, for the price there are far less shit heavies.

ON1-K

By god, a real ‘mech!

The ON1-K is simple: What if we took the H and un-primitive it? Now sporting a full array of standard equipment the K saves a good clip of tonnage over the H and uses it well. Packing on a little more armor, bumping the movement profile to the, from here on, standard 4/6, and converting that pair of LRM-5s into a singular LRM-15 with two tons of ammo the K is a far more capable ‘mech than its forebears.

At a mere 122 BV more, coming out to 1,429 BV total, the K is a steal of a succ war brick. This thing is a pretty consistent part of the ‘Wall of Steel’ tactic, being a relatively efficient way to convert BV into health and guns.

Only packing in 10 single heat sinks the K can have some mild heat problems but they’re certainly workable. At long range tossing in the AC/10 and the LRM-15 on a run you’ll be heat neutral, at short an alpha strike on the run- sans LRM -only builds you 4 heat. Honestly very usable.

It does have five tons of ammo in it and no CASE protection but for the price I’m willing to overlook it as too grave of a sin. Being a line heavy that’s this cheap and capable of packing in AC/10 Precision ammo in later eras really is quite useful. The K might get murdered by some Il-Clan abomination but it’ll probably take it a couple turns to manage it and that’s really all the K wants.

Liberty’s Rating: C. A Good brick of a line heavy that is honestly great in its era and fully workable outside of it!

ON1-Kb

The Royals always get the good shit and the Orion is no different.

This thing is brand new. Recently released in Shrapnel issue 20 we have something quite cool! Hopefully it comes along in a few IlClan avals as some of the other royals have. Coming in at 1,617 BV the Kb is the expected Good Shit™ overhaul I always kinda felt was missing for the Orion; considering Kerensky’s juiced up 1-K we’ll talk about later and the fact that the Orion was supposedly prolific in Star League regular forces.

This is a very direct upgrade of the standard K variant, cladding the ‘mech in ferro fibrous buys the tonnage to add Artemis to the launchers and trade the AC/10 for a big ol’ LB 10-X scatter gun now kept ice cold by a standard ten pack of Double Heat Sinks. The same ammo load is present but it has all been shifted over to a CASE protected right torso bay. This right torso is an absolute bomb but at the least if it falls off, unlike the normal K, the Kb can stay in the fight for a bit, or withdraw home for some repairs if you’re doing a campaign.

God I’d love to have this thing in my Fronc Aval… Please?

Liberty’s Rating: C+. Better durability than a standard K with better heat sinking and more flexible weapons? Yes please.

ON1-M

Dr. Bomb. Paging Dr. Bomb.

So we come to our first Helm refit. I’ll give the M series, as the M variants really are a series, one thing: They’ve got a lot more restraint than most pre-Clan Invasion refits. Let’s real quick outline what all the Ms have in common:

• An XL engine that pushes it to 4/6.
• CASE in both side torsos.
• 11 Double Heat Sinks. (Save for the Dual cockpit version.)
• Near about all the armor the frame can carry.
• Standard Structure and Standard armor.

Interestingly this entirely homogenous layout makes the M series almost Omni-mech like in their relation to each other as this basic package leaves 36 tons, and 41 critical slots, of free space to play with! So, let’s see what the base did with it!

Filling out the available space the 1-M brings with it a pair of Medium Lasers, an SRM 4 with two tons of ammo, an LRM 20 with two tons of ammo, a NARC Missile Beacon with two tons of ammo, and an LB 10-X Auto cannon… with two tons of ammo. CASEd torsos or not this thing is a walking bomb with only one left torso crit not doing something bad to it’s longevity. When that bomb goes off it’s going to take the XL engine with it, unfortunately.

Eight tons of ammo is a lot to be packing into something like this. That said, at 1,414 BV the 1-M is cheap, cheaper even than the original K and with, relatively, the same longevity! Though the 1-M is more survivable for your pilot, if you care about that, it cannot suffer through a- non explosion related -side torso loss like the K can. To me the trade off for the XL engine, and 7 random lost pips of armor, between the M and the K is offset some by using the saved weight to bring in bigger and more versatile guns that can do good work at nearly all ranges while still retaining a highly flexible platform. Besides, the double heat sinks mean that if you get in on somebody at the merge you can at least try to send everything at them, even if the LRM will be on bad shots, as the 1-M is at -3 heat with a running alpha strike.

Liberty’s Rating: C. Really a weird ON-1K in some ways and not at all in others, I’d say based on their costs, the ebbs and flows of survivability, and the usefulness of a relatively cheap LB-10 that they’re pretty closely tied.

ON1-M-DC

TECHNICALLY different.

The M-DC is an M with one crucial difference: We dropped a Heat Sink and two tons of ammo, one SRM one NARC, to stick a Dual Cockpit in it.

For 1,444 BV this is… fine? If you want a command console ‘mech to keep with a force at this pace here’s a cheap one I suppose? There are certainly better options but this one also exists! Fun!

Liberty’s Rating: C in a normal game low C+ in one with Command Console rules active. Just a slightly different M with slightly more capability so… cool?

ON1-MA

The missiles have got some weird computers and the lasers are doin’ dubstep shit, the fuck is goin’ on up in here?

The 1-MA takes the frame of the M and mounts up:

An LRM-20 equipped with an Artemis IV fire control system for improved clusters out in the left arm and two tons of ammo in the left torso.

An SRM-6 also equipped with an Artemis IV fire control system for improved clusters and two tons of ammo all in the left torso.

An LB 10-X… and two tons of ammo in the right torso.

A Medium Pulse Laser in each arm… and no ammo for them because they don’t need it ‘cause’n they’re lasers..

Honestly at 1,501 BV this is a pretty acceptable M series brawler variant, capable of hitting on the way in and then providing consistent, if middling, damage upon getting in close on someone to try and start beating them down. Additionally the pulse lasers should help it keep the little bastards away from it which is always helpful.

Still a fuckin’ bomb tho.

Liberty’s Rating: C+. Honestly dropping the NARC and packing on this much more damage for a mere 87 extra BV is a pretty good steal, one of my favorite M variants.

ON1-MB

Tiny slug thrower go zoom.

The MB variant is an M but it replaced the LB 10-X and its ammo with a Light Gauss Rifle and one ton of ammo.

That’s it.

Honestly for 1,472 BV this isn’t terrible, it’s just a flat side grade to the M to give it the ability to be a backline slug slinger to support the rest of your approaching lance. Mind that now the bomb in that torso is way bigger so this is a touch more fragile than the normal M is.

Liberty’s Rating: C. Direct side grade to the M get’s direct side grade to the M ratings..

ON1-MC

WHAT IS THAT!?!?!? WHAT IS THAT!?!?!? WHAT IS IT!?!?!? OH NO, NO NOT THE BEES!!! NOT THE BEES!!! AAAAHHHHHHHHHH

The MC looked at the M and said ‘HIS MISSILES? WHACK. HIS NARC? WHACK. HIS HEAT MANAGEMENT? WHACK. ME? I’M TIGHT AS FUCK!!!’

The MC then proceeded to rip out the LRM, the SRM, the NARC launcher and all of their ammo so that he could carry an MRM 30 with 3 tons of ammo, an MRM 20 with one ton of ammo and a C3 Slave.

This is fucking dumb.

But good God is it funny. This thing has the capacity to tear a shitload of armor off of something if it manages to get a hold of it, they are MRMs so it’s quite possible it doesn’t actually get a hold of something but a man can dream. For 1,501 BV this could certainly be worse.

Still… Funny…

Liberty’s Rating: C-. Loses a fair bit of the M’s consistency due to the MRMs but good god is it funny to actually hit things with those MRM boxes.

ON1-MD

LISTEN TO THE CACOPHONY OF THE WORLD ENDING ENGINE. ITS CHATTERING GEARS AND CLATTERING BARRELS PLAY A SYMPHONY MOST DEAR. IMMENSE YOUR ENEMY IN PAIN, DEATH AND SHELL FIRE. SHATTER THEIR ARMOR. BREAK THEIR BACKS. KILL. KILL! KILL!!!

Rotary time.

It’s an M, but the LB 10-X is a RAC/5 with four tons of ammo. Some people will like this change, me, some people won’t, heathens in need of education, but all should acknowledge that RACs, when working properly and not locking up, are a weapon that can quickly become a problem…

Still a bomb though.

For 1,501 BV this could be worse but it’s climbing up there in the common Orion shit-brick-o-sphere.

Liberty’s Rating: C. I love RACs but when 7/10 of your left torso crits result in instant death you kind of have to temper expectations.

ON1-V

Weird Succ war SRM packer.

The V is the other Succession wars Orion, carrying the same weapons load, and a bit less armor than the K to bring along an extra SRM 4. That’s it. That’s the difference.

The torsos and legs are still AC/20 proof, at least, but the arms are now at 19 armor meaning a pair of PPC hits or an AC/20 is going to go in. Luckily there’s no explosives out there! Now, there’s something else to keep in mind. It only costs 1,298 BV. That’s not bad but with it building 12 heat on a running alpha strike the V has some heat problems. For long range fighting the V is, like the K, heat neutral, but where the K only builds 4 heat when firing the short range guns the V will build 7 due to the extra SRM pack. Of course you could drop something to keep it down but at that point you might as well be using the K anyhow.

It’s certainly cheaper than the K but I’d rather pay the extra 131 BV.

Liberty’s Rating: D-. Still usable but just straight up outshone by the venerable K.

ON1-V-DC

Oh, this is familiar!

It’s the same as the M vs M-DC. The V-DC drops a ton of each ammo type to bring along a command console. This severely reduces the longevity of the machine while also pulling a good clip of the ‘I crave to be seen from orbit’ out of it which is quite helpful. At 1,310 BV it’s probably one of the cheaper ways to put a Command Console on the field but man are there better options. Go get a Battlemaster BLR-1Gc instead. It’s a couple hundred BV more and it’s way tougher and way more threatening..

Liberty’s Rating: D- in a normal game low D+ in one with Command Console rules active.

ON1-VA

LRMs are lame. You should have armor and heat sinks instead.

The VA drops the V’s LRM and its two tons of ammo to bring along all the armor it can manage, an AC/10 with two tons of ammo, a Medium Laser and SRM-4 in each arm with a ton of ammo for each launcher in the left torso. Also 6 more heat sinks. This means the VA is +1 on the heat scale when doing a running alpha strike.

Not bad!

…

BUT now the two tons of SRM ammo in the left torso have nothing next to them, despite the four heat sinks in the legs. So if you get crit in the left torso you turn into a fireball again.

Dagnabbit.

At 1,328 BV with little to no heat problem it’s at least kinda usable but the loss of the long range reach out and touch, and the addition of a dedicated bomb in the left torso, really holds this variant back.

Liberty’s Rating: D. Usable but there are better options for this mission profile. Would probably do pretty alright in the Succ wars at least but they’re called the Succ wars for a reason.

ON2-M

Now this is a bad bitch.

Here we have my flat out favorite Orion. I love the 2-M. It does its job, it protects itself from things getting in its face and it just wants to park up and punch its problems in the face from well away from the target zone. She’s a bit expensive for an IS grade Orion, coming in at 1,828 BV but I’m usually quite happy to pay the price.

Mounting a standard engine to a Ferro-Fibrous clad Endo-Steel structure we get a pretty good clip of free space to play with and the designers of the 2-M used them in a good, and quite on brand, way. Loading up a Gauss rifle, and two bins of slugs, in the right torso supported at long range by an Artemis IV equipped LRM-15 with two tons of ammo in the CASE protected left torso the 2-M packs a nice, consistent punch out to a good range. The long range guns have minimum ranges and, as such, are supported by a trio of Medium Pulse Lasers for if someone gets a little too close. With ten Double Heat Sinks the 2-M is dead heat neutral with a running alpha strike.

Unfortunately the 2-M has one big problem: The Gauss rifle.

That right torso has no CASE protection and only possesses 16 internal structure. When it goes off it’s going to take the torso off and blow in on the CT, possibly scoring crits on the engine or gyro. That in mind it’s still unlikely to just kill the machine which while maintaining a semblance of close and long range fire power which is a nice consolation.

Liberty’s Rating: B-. I love this thing, it’s tough as a brick, quite survivable and happy to sling slugs and flights of missiles all day while being just threatening enough with the trio of MPLs to keep light ‘mechs, mostly, away from it.

ON3-M

Beeeg gun.

The ON3-M has taken the frame of an ON1-VA, stuffed an XL engine and some CASE in it and then used the saved tonnage to make some… choices. Choices that make it cost 1,826 BV, 2 less than my beloved 2-M! And this one is one higher! Surely it’s better!

The AC/10 in the right torso is now a Gauss rifle, which we love. Always great to have a head chopper around. It has two tons of ammo placed in the CT which helps with some possible crit eating, kind of helpful for keeping it upright and killin’.

So what’s in the Left torso then? Oh! It’s CASE II protected, that should help make it so the three tons of ammo don’t blow out the side torso when they go off! What were they for?

An Extended LRM-15.

Oh…

Okay but why?

ELRMs are bad, having a 10 hex short range is very bad bad not good. More importantly even if you manage to put rounds on target within that gargantuan minimum range then you’ll do half damage since they just don’t arm right.

Liberty’s Rating: D+. It wasn’t better…

ON3-MX

Beeeg gun.

The ON3-MX has taken the ON-3M and done some incredibly funny, very dumb shit with it.

Firstly: the right torso cannon is now an Improved Heavy Gauss Rifle. Perfect for sending volkswagens across the battlefield at significant velocities to shear one and a quarter tons of armor off of it. It has four tons of ammo crammed into the left torso alongside the three tons of ammo for the ELRM-10. Also it still has the ERMLs of the 3-M.

There is wild potential for this thing to be funny but I really do wish that was just a normal LRM box, it’d be way better, especially for 1,849 BV.

Liberty Rating: D. Incredible potential for the funny but it’s a way worse use of the BV than the 3-M, let alone the 2-M.

C

Oh it’s Clan time, baby.

The C is a faithful, IlClan era, overhaul of the venerable ON2-M juiced up to the fucking nines on clan tech… which makes it cost 2,343 BV.

Oh god my BV wallet is in pain.

For one, it’s an IS Endo Steel chassis clad in the usual load of armor, that is now Ferro-Lamellor which is a marked increase in survivability, powered by a standard engine and kept upright by a standard gyro. The side torsos are equipped with a CASE II system to protect the rest of the ‘mech from destruction, or at least extensive damage, if the Gauss rifle in the right torso, or the two tons of Streak LRM-15 ammo in the left torso kick off.

This is all rounded out by a trio of ER Medium Pulse Lasers and kept relatively cool by ten Double Heat Sinks. A running alpha strike pushes the C up to 6 on the heat scale which is really fine, there’s a few easy ways to knock about with the guns to kick the heat down.

Liberty’s Rating: B-. Quite expensive but this thing is going to be hell to put down and it’s gonna be slinging a lot of hate your way the whole time you try to flog it to death.

C 2

Petah… the ELRM is back.

The C2 takes the C, pulls the cool Ferro-Lam armor off of it then drops the entire weapon load to use the weight that buys on some… interesting choices. For one, the Streak LRM is now an Extended LRM-15 with 4 tons of ammo in the CASE II bay and a Streak SRM-4 with one ton of ammo in the same spot. a Clan ER Large Laser now sits in place of the Gauss rifle, a Clan ERML is in the right hand laser spot and a Clan Large Pulse Laser sits in the left.

It has 12 Double Heat sinks now which leaves it up 16 heat on a running Alpha strike. Mind you you’re unlikely to fire off the ERML and the SRM at the same time as the ELRM so dropping those you’re only up 8 on the run or 6 standing still to be a sniper in the backline that still has to drop something every turn or two to not shut down. But why? The C is just better.

I… I unno.

This is at least cheaper than the basic C? I guess? Coming in at 2,026 BV, 317 less it’s a touch more affordable but it feels so much less useful than its big brother.

Fun fact though! The C2 is the only time I’ve ever had ELRMs be used at me in an effective manner! Go check out the tournament report for the Richmond open for more!

Liberty’s Rating: D+. ELRMs and poor heat management really put this thing down, if you’ve got the choice just take the C or a 2-M or something.

Orion IIC

GREAT FATHER FORGIVE THEM, THE WOLVES HATH MADE YOUR MACHINE STRANGE AND INCORRECTLY!

So, the Orion IIC is the Clan Wolf Totem ‘mech and as such it has something to do with Aleksander Kerensky. This is meant to emulate Aleksander Kerensky’s personal ‘mech and does an… alright job at it.

Using all Clan tech the IIC uses an endo-steel frame clad in a full load of ferro-fibrous armor and powered by a standard engine. Armament wise the Wolves mounted up an LRM-20 in the left arm with 3 tons of ammo in the left torso next to the SRM-4 and its one ton of ammo. Both arm laser slots carry a clan ER Large Laser while the right torso packs a Gauss rifle and two tons of ammo. There is exactly one thing here that doesn’t want to engage farther away than 9 hexes and it’s the SRM.

This is kind of a problem as the IIC only mounts 12 Double Heat Sinks which means that, firing off the Gauss, both ERLLs and the LRM at a run sends it up 9 heat. If you’re doing it in range of the SRM you’re going up 12 heat.

On a ‘mech that costs 2,392 BV.

Not great. There’s a path here to make it be a long range sniper that drops one of the ERLLs and the LRM every other turn but man is this a lot of BV to pay for something that’s not really capable of making full use of the weapons that want to be firing together at the same time.

God this is expensive for something with this much of a heat problem. It really feels like you’re not getting what you’re paying for with this thing. As well it doesn’t super feel like an Orion anymore. A pair of MPLs instead of those ERLLs and a few SRM 6s would be a fair sight more usable and keep with the Orion’s usual MO of being a flexible do it all brick.

Fuckin’ Wolves, screwin’ shit up. Go get a real Totem ‘mech, like a Kodiak.

Liberty’s Rating: D+. Orion IIC, Orion lesser.

Orion IIC Burton

Who the fuck is Burton? Oh, a Knight of the Sphere. That means this thing’s about to be whacky.

The Burton refit of the IIC is interesting. It takes the normal IIC, stuffs in a clan XL engine, 3 more heat sinks and then rips out every gun except for the Clan ER Large Lasers. All of that freed up tonnage gets used on a HAG-20 with 2 tons of ammo in the right torso, a Streak LRM-15 in the arm with its two tons of ammo in the left torso next an ATM 3 with two tons of ammo. On top of that it now sports a Light Active Probe, a Laser AMS and a quartet of Jump Jets making it 4/6/4.

The extra heat sinks means you can get more fire down range at a time with a running alpha strike building 7 heat, 12 if you turn the AMS on, this is already more manageable than the standard model IIC. Bring the Burton to a stop, plant those feet, line up a good shot and you can rip off both ERLLs, the HAG and the Streak LRM to only go up 3 heat! Every now and then you drop an ERLL to pick up the ATM, dump down all your heat and do it all over again.

Now this is how you do a clan Orion overhaul… Which means it’s expensive, coming in at 2,746 BV.

Ouchie.

At this price it kind of ends up right back in the same zone as the standard Orion IIC. This thing is coming up on Kodiak price and it will lose that fight.

Liberty’s Rating: D+. The more usable of the IIC brothers but man is that cost dropping it down from a C-. Still well and all serviceable but man something this expensive should not have these kinds of heat problems when operating in one firing band.

ON1-K Kerensky

The ‘mech that the man, the myth, the legend, the Great God Damned Father himself piloted.

The Kerensky model for the K is a pretty simple upgrade, more likely being built from the new Kb than the original, tired K. The LB 10-X is replaced with a Gauss rifle and two tons of ammo and the LRM is now a Snub-nosed PPC…

Wait, they had S-PPCs in the Star League? Oh, they were experimental. Man, I guess sawing the barrel off a PPC wasn’t all that complicated a conclusion to come to, huh?

Still sporting the pair of standard Medium Lasers and the Artemis IV equipped SRM-4 the Kerensky model is cooled by a standard load of 20 double heat sinks and only builds movement heat on an alpha strike. For 1,821 BV this really could be worse. It feels like an odd cousin to the ON2-M, if I’m honest.

Liberty: C+. Like a slightly downgraded ON2-M missing its pulses, to be honest.

Conclusion

Man the Orion is cool looking. I’m surprised there’s not more energy ones, or that neither of the C variants, or IIC variants, swapped out the gun for a Clan ERPPC or something.

I’m not really sure there’s any variants I want from an Orion beyond my usual craving for every shit brick that I see to get stuffed to the gills with rocket launchers at some point. An Orion with a Gauss rifle for plinking and an ungodly mass of RL 20s for self defense would be hilarious. It would also probably be bad but it’d certainly be funny!

If you’re gonna take an Orion the 3 standouts I can pin are the basic K/M variants, the Kb and the 2-M. All the normal ON1-M, and K, variants are usable and would make for an alright flexible brick in really any era. The 2-M is a good zenith for the platform so far, serving as a good bruiser for close in engagements while also not lacking for opinions at long range and still being that same old tough to kill brick you expect out of an Orion.

Until next time! Fair weather, good seas and happy bricking!

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