The soft hum of the Nakamoto’s machinery filled the air, the dull thrum overshadowed by the raucous sound of the rest of the Ryuken-Ni’s ‘mech techs hard at work sorting what was left of the Dragoon’s machines we had managed to haul away from the field. The ‘mechs were an eclectic mess of shattered armor, severed parts, scuffed paint and showering sparks, strewn from bay to bay and covered in fervently working ‘techs.

The stalking stench of burned seals, overheated myomer and battered, old steel met my nose as I picked my way through the space, dodging falling parts and moving work crews. A scattering of designs had been hauled in for salvage or repair, some in the charcoal gray they’d left this very dropship in, some in the red and black livery of the Dragoons’ Alpha Regiment. No matter the color they were all beaten into oblivion. I found my bay amongst the chaos, bereft of its usual occupant in Holsten’s Atlas, filled now by a new monster of metal, myomer and firepower.

Or at least what was left of it.

“What in the name of the Coordinator is this thing?” I whispered, staring up at the vast bulk of the machine that dominated the DCS Nakamoto’s salvage space. It was more akin to a blood drenched mountain than a machine built for war, towering plates of red and stone-black stretching to the upper decks supporting a gargantuan arsenal of ruined arms and ammunition. 

“Uncertain, Sir.” Kalsa answered from my side, pressing a BDA into my hands before returning her gaze to the monster suspended in the gantry. “Yukiko and Olsen have taken to calling it ‘Behemoth’.”

“A fitting moniker.” I agreed, flipping through the pages of the assessment with growing dismay at the extent of the damage. “Any indication of the machine’s manufacturer?”

“None.” She sighed in return, shaking her head as she gestured me a few pages forward to a collage of pictures and readings. “Every plate on its frame has been scraped clean, no identifying numbers, no indication of who built it, not even an indication of where to begin looking for parts.”

“Then it seems this machine will never serve the Coordinator’s will.” The dismay in my chest tightened into a tight knot of disappointment as I handed the BDA back, placing the files into Kalsa’s waiting hands before ambling forward to peer into the ‘mech’s open leg plates, studying what remained of the Behemoth’s myomer bundles. “At least not directly.”

“Hisako?” Kalsa asked, following a few steps behind, flipping through the papers looking for what I had seen.

“Mark it for delivery to Luthien. I am certain the engineers at L.A.W. would be quite interested in seeing what they could glean from this ‘Behemoth’.” I answered, plucking at a myomer strand with a curious finger before turning back to her. “For now we make do with what we have and make it as workable for their study as we can.”

“Understood, Chu-i.” She nodded with a bow, rising before setting to work organizing the crew’s taskings. My attention slid up to the sprawling mass of shattered plates, rent gun barrels and scorched metal, studying the ‘mechs lines for a long moment before turning to make my way back to the Nakamoto’s command spaces.

Chu-Sa Earnst would be pleased to learn of what we had found. 

• Lead ‘Mech Tech, Chu-i Evalyn Hisako, Draconis Combine, Ryuken-Ni, DCMS Nakamoto, Misery System Jumppoint, May 27th 3028

— 

Howdy Mechwarriors and welcome to another ‘Mech Overview! This week we’ve got another of my beloved Clan Second Line ‘mechs in the form of the absolute monster of guns and armor known to the Clans as the Stone Rhino and the Inner Sphere as the Behemoth, a truly fitting name. This thing has one job in life and one job alone:

Carry a lot of fucking guns.

The Stone Rhino was born from the scientists of Clan Smoke Jaguar’s desire to prove their superiority by taking Stephan Amaris’ ‘Matar’ project, an absolute 110 ton monolith of failure and over-expenditure that resulted in little more than a steaming pile of disappointment and suffering, and making it their own. Now, those painfully useless origins in mind we come to the glaring question: does the Stone Rhino take after its progenitor?

Is it too a monolith of failure, excess and waste? A monument to the Clan’s usual sins of excess, overinvestment and unbridled yearning for destructive capacity? A refusal to learn from that which came before?

No. No it is not. And I’m not just saying that because I think my Clan advisor will declare a Trial of Grievance, or just shoot me, for badmouthing one of their machines, I swear.

Chassis

The Stone Rhino is a behemoth of a machine, a stature that certainly earned it its Inner Sphere reporting name, weighing in at 100 tons of Clan hate and destruction and as such it has an equally massive pile of guns to drop a terrifying weight of shells on the heads of any who would oppose it. Every single one of these ‘mechs lives by just about the same design principals as last week’s subject The Supernova:

Be big, carry a lot of guns and clad yourself in every ounce of armor you can carry. Unlike the Supernova the Stone Rhino does not preclude itself from the use of ballistic weapons with many of the variants actually leaning quite heavily in the use of Auto Cannons, Gauss Rifles and Missiles.

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).

Standard

I AM THE SPINE SHATTERER, THE A-1, THE DUKE OF NEW YORK, THE UNENDING TIDE OF PULSING LASERS AND SCREAMING SLUGS OF DEATH, DESTRUCTION AND HATRED. DO YOU DARE TO STAND AGAINST MY TIRADE OF SHELL AND LIGHT? I AM THE STANDARD AND THERE IS NO MERCY TO BE GRANTED.

The Standard is here to commit great and terrible crimes, specifically from over there. The Standard Stone Rhino is a born and bred long range Clan Assault ‘mech, standing tall and proud with a pair of Gauss rifles supported by two tons of ammo a piece, a pair of Large Pulse Lasers and an emotional support Small Pulse Laser this thing can reach out and touch you from a good ways.

Carrying the standard ten double heat sinks the Stone Rhino isn’t terribly hot, going up six heat on a running alpha it’s quite manageable. Standing still and slinging all four long range guns at something will net you plus two on the heat scale which means it can do it for several turns before ever actually running into any problems.

The armor is thick on this big bastard as well, packing 32 on each arm, 36 on the legs, 27 on the side torsos and 46 on the CT protecting a standard fusion engine with Clan standard CASE covering the Gauss rifles the Standard is a monster of survivability. The only drawback you have here really is the movement and the cost, the Standard moves at a brisk 3/5/3 which is functional enough for a big anchoring sniper ‘mech that just wants to amble into position and just start hammering fire into something. So, what about that cost?

3,001 BV. This is expensive to be sure but I can see it getting that work down range when it gets the right position, parking up where it can overlook a vast open space and just hammer down turn after turn until it either exhausts the bins or gets beaten apart itself.

Liberty’s Rating: C+. Quite effective, if very expensive for what its doing. I like it, but with some of the other Stone Rhinos on offer I often find myself leaving the old Standard at home.

Insanity Rating: C-. THIS RESTRAINT OFFENDS ME. GIVE ME MORE POWER. MORE LIGHT. MORE CONTROL.

2

MY HEAD HANGS HEAVY WITH THE WEIGHT OF LASER AND GAUSS. I STRIDE ONTO THIS BATTLEFIELD A BEING OF LIGHT AND HATRED. YOU WILL FALL ‘NEATH THE WEIGHT OF MY FIRE. I WILL BREAK YOUR ARMOR WITH THE STRENGTH OF LIGHT AND MAGNETS. HOWEVER THEY WORK. I AM THE TWO AND I AM COMING FOR YOU.

The 2 is a whole new animal. Beefing up the armor on the front and packing in an XL engine this variant is grabbing even more guns to play with. Starting with an additional six double heat sinks the 2 retains the Standard’s movement profile, its Gauss Rifles, and their ammo, while mounting up one of each type of Heavy Laser in each arm as well as an Anti-Missile System in the head with one ton of ammo in the CT. Also there are two Medium Heavy Lasers pointing backwards… For some fucking reason.

Also an XL engine now.

Oh yea, and terrible heat management. Like ‘build 4 heat firing off the LHLs standing still’ terrible. A running alpha strike takes this thing straight to 29 heat

There are two ways to really use this thing, either you keep it in the back line slamming out Gauss shells until they’re dry, reserving the close in guns for when something gets in close on you. These are… not the most effective weapons for that task and at 3,107 BV I’d say the Standard is a better choice for long range support out of a Stone Rhino.

Liberty’s Rating: D. Certainly usable but for what it wants to do the Standard is strictly better and cheaper.

Insanity Rating: B. THE WEIGHT OF MY LASERS SHALL SHEAR ALL OF THE PITIFUL SPHEROID BASTARDS WHO APPROACH ME CLEAN IN TWAIN.

3

MY ACCURACY UNENDING, MY FLIGHTS TANTALIZING, MY ARMOR UNYIELDING. NEAR OR FAR I WILL SHATTER YOUR CORE, DRAG YOU INTO THE DEPTHS OF HELL AND LEAVE YOU BROKEN AND DEFEATED UPON THE GREAT FATHER’S ALTAR. I AM THE THREE AND YOU WILL BOW TO ME.

The 3 takes the 2 and fiddles with it a touch to make something far better at the job.

Ditching all of the weapons and packing on a few heat sinks to reach a total of twenty-one the 3 is a very well sunk machine. This load of heat sinks handles the loadout quite well, efficiently eating the heat of the quad LPLs at a run while leaving room to wiggle the two ATM-9s in upon occasion when the target numbers line up in exchange for one of your LPLs and a little bit of heat build. Four total tons of ammo gives a good clip of endurance and plenty of space to use to pick a loadout of your preferred ammo types.

Only going up 12 on an alpha the 3 really is quite well off for heat management which is always nice to have on a flexible ‘mech like this. Top all of that off with a pretty acceptable price for this much gun of 3,072 BV. This isn’t cheap but it’s certainly useful for what you’re getting as a more mobile Tomahawk C.

Liberty’s Rating: B. Honestly hateful amount of firepower to bring to bear on something in any circumstance. This thing will sit on the far side of existence and never be hit if you set it up right.

Insanity Rating: A+. THE THUNDEROUS PULSE OF MY LASERS WILL REND YOUR ARMOR AND SAVAGE YOUR STRUCTURE ‘NEATH MY HARROWING HATRED.

4

THIS HEAT, IT IS A GOOD PAIN. I AM BUILT OF SINGLE HEAT SINKS, HATRED AND FIRE. THE CHATTERING ROAR OF MY ULTRAS SHALL SPLIT YOUR EARDRUMS AND CLEAVE THE SKIES IN TWAIN. THE FLIGHT OF MY MISSILES WILL SHADE THE SUN AS THE SEARING ROAR OF MY LASERS AND WHISPERING CLATTER OF MY MACHINE GUNS TEAR AT YOUR ARMOR. I AM NUMBER FOUR AND I SHALL TAKE YOU ON A BLAZING TOUR.

The austerity ‘mech to end all austerity ‘mechs the Stone Rhino four may not look like much but at 2,601 BV it can do some real damage if it gets into the right spot, Single Heat Sinks or not. Originally a Smoke Jag testbed ‘mech from 2846 this version makes some choices with regards to battlefield survivability in favor of just testing the machine’s capacity; namely an XL engine with 17 single heat sinks and reducing the armor to the lowest we’ve seen, though still quite usable. It didn’t stay as a test platform though and ended up being a rather popular machine showing up all around the Clan Toumans.

The 4 packs in a healthy amount of weapons, though it trades off some of the armor to do it. Toting a pair of UAC/10s, and a quartet each of ERMLs, LRM 10s and machine guns. Backing the guns with two tons for the MGs and four tons for each set of big guns the 4 has some pretty good longevity in its course of fire. The 4 wants to do some slotted bracket firing, being heat neutral at a walk with its long range pack of LRM-10s, heat negative with the UAC/10s and up 5 sending out all four ERMLs on the run. There’s some mixing and matching to do around this heat profile to try and get the most out of your heat band but it’s a shame they used the singles as it has the space. That said it having these heat problems is part of what’s keeping the heat down and, so long as you think it out, you can do a fine job keeping the heat in check while still getting some alright work out of the machine.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. This heat loading with the amount of guns that are here is a big problem but this thing is definitely still usable and happy to dish hate if you get it set up right. Going past 30 on the alpha with ammo all over the place like this thing has means you have to think about what you’re doing when it comes to heat land.

Insanity Rating: B+. I AM THE HEAT MONGER. MY HEAT IS AMAZING AND I SHALL OUTSHINE THE SUN AS I BURN YOUR WORLD IN THE EXHAUST OF MY HEAT EXCHANGERS.

5

SCATTER AND SHOT. BEAM AND HEAT. I WILL FIND THE CHINKS IN YOUR ARMOR AND DIG DEEP UPON THE SUCCULENT MUNITIONS WITHIN. MY SHOT SHALL BREAK YOUR BACK AND STEAL YOUR ACTUATORS AS MY BEAMS CARVE RIVERS INTO YOUR ARMOR WITH RUTHELESS HATRED. I AM NUMBER FIVE AND SOON YOU SHALL NOT BE ALIVE.

The 5 is a simple being. It fiddles with the armor a bit, continuing to be a brick of hate and ‘fuckin’ try me’ energy, before mounting an XL engine with twelve double heat sinks and a coterie of guns. Out in the arms we have a six pack of ERMLs, three in each arm, while each torso is occupied with a pair of LB 5-X autocannons and two tons of ammo.

That’s it. That’s the loadout. That’s all it needs.

This doesn’t sound like a lot, until you consider that it’s still got plenty of armor, a fun pile of guns that can do some good long range support work and a cherry cheap cost for a clan assault. 2,157 BV is a pretty acceptable price to pay for a ‘mech that can do this kind of work.

This begs a question though, some of the more astute readers may have noticed something: this is a lot less tonnage in guns than we’ve seen previously. Why is that? Well, simple. The 5 drops the jump jets and bumps the engine up to move 4/6.

This makes this an actual battle-line assault that’s got a good clip of fire aboard in those ERMLs. Standing at the right range this thing can ripple off four of the ERMLs and the LBXs with movement heat.

That’s not bad. Though firing it all off can cause some mild problems as it can build 36 heat while only sinking 24, sending it up 12 heat. Still, works pretty well for what it is and what it costs!

Liberty’s Rating: B-. Really strange machine but for the cost I can see it getting some good work in when paired with a few other ‘mechs meant to open things up for it!

Insanity Rating: B+. I AM THE HAIL STORM THAT SHALL FALL UPON YOU FROM ON HIGH. DO YOU HEAR THE RESOUNDING CLANG OF MY PELLETS? THE SEARING POWER OF MY LASERS? NO? WELL SOON YOU WILL.

6

DO YOU HEAR IT? THE PULSING HATRED OF MY FURY? THE NEVER ENDING SONG OF A BILLION TRILLION PHOTONS EATING AWAY AT YOUR PITIFUL FORM? THE DIVINE HEAT OF THIS, MY SYMPHONY OF LIGHT AND DESTRUCTION SHALL SEAR AWAY YOUR RESOLVE AND CONSUME YOUR SOUL. I AM NUMBER SIX AND I WI- {WARNING, AUTOMATIC SHUTDOWN INITIATED} Oh… Well, that’s inconvenient.

Hey kid, do you like medium pulse lasers? You do? Well what about fourteen of them? Yea I thought you’d like that. If this sounds like your idea of a good ‘mech then this is probably gonna be one of your new favorite guys.

It’s certainly one of mine.

The six is a horror show of hilarity, blinking lights and the basic human craving to dump 28 dice onto a table at once. Packing most of a Standard’s armor, a 4/6/2 movement profile, eighteen double heat sinks, and an extra emotional support ER small laser this thing is hot when the pilot leans on the big red button labeled ‘DISCO IS NOT DEAD’ in the cockpit.

An alpha strike on the run sends you up 24 heat. Now, for the purpose of turning something inside out on demand this is fine as it’s the kind of thing you only do when you’re certain of a good effect on target. Normally the firing pattern for the 6 is either 8 MPLs on with negative heat to allow for movement, 9 with movement heat or any number of combinations of heat riding you find suitable for the moment. Now, what can you do in that perfect moment besides go most of the way to shut down land and come to a grinding stop?

98 possible, accurate, damage in 7 point groupings.

… For 2,981 BV.

I’ll be honest, this is expensive for what’s here but the most important thing to keep in mind about it is that it is certainly hilarious and possibly the funniest answer you can give to ‘what do I do about all these light ‘mechs?’. There are a lot of things you can get for this price that will do more on the field and absolutely get you your money’s worth for what you’re paying, like a Kodiak.

But man is this thing fuckin’ funny.

Liberty’s Rating: D+. It’s hilarious but it really doesn’t have the wherewithal in it to keep going, the Kodiak dominates this role and price bracket for the sole fact that it is, at some point, going to use everything that it is paying for. The 6 just goes too hard in the paint on those MPLs. There’s a world where they drop four MPLs and turn them into a pair of ERLLs out in the arms or something that just leagues better for functionality.

Insanity Rating: A++. DISCO IS NOT DEAD AND I SHALL BE ITS HERALD IN THIS, MY CHARIOT OF LIGHT, RHYTHM AND PASSION! BOW BEFORE ME YE SMALL BASTARDS FOR I AM THE END OF YOUR SPEEDY LITTLE WORLDS!!!

7

I AM THE SUPERNOVA THAT NEVER WAS. THE PRODUCT OF THAT WHICH ITS COWARDLY DESIGNERS FEARED TO BREATH LIFE INTO. THE BRILLIANT GLEAMING FLAME ON THE HILL THAT SO GALLANTLY AWAITS THE END OF ALL THAT SHOULD OPPOSE ME AS I SCYTHE THE NIGHT’S PITCH AIR WITH MY HATRED. I AM NUMBER SEVEN AND I SHALL SEND YOU TO HEAVEN.

The 7 is a Supernova. A weird Supernova but a Supernova nevertheless.

It carries the Standard’s armor belt and movement profile but backs it with twenty six double heat sinks and an interesting trade off. Ditching the Gauss Rifles buys it a lot of tonnage, tonnage used on those heat sinks and a trio of ER Large Lasers.

This is actually the same overall damage output as the Standard, just now split between three shafts of light instead of a pair of 125kg nickel slugs. Also it goes up four heat at a stand still which is honestly fine. Dump it all one turn and then ditch one of the lasers the next to sink it back out. It’s a bit less efficient DPS wise than the Standard but it can’t ever run out of ammo…

Unless your games are regularly lasting 16 turns of fire and then still going. If that’s the case then who are you? What’s your story? What BV are you playing at? What scale of map? I crave this knowledge.

The same overall damage output, now without explosives, as a Standard nets you a slightly better price than the standard, coming in at a cool 2,916 BV. A full 85 BV lower!

Liberty’s Rating: C+. Standard sidegrade gets Standard sidegrade rating! If you prefer ERLLs to Gauss rifles then here’s your man. Take him home and paint him up in your favorite totemic animal colors.

Insanity Rating: C-. THIS RESTRAINT ONCE AGAIN OFFENDS ME. GIVE ME MORE POWER. MORE HATRED. MORE DESTRUCTION.

8

THE HATRED IS FLEETING. I AM REDUCED, DRAWN BACK TO THE STANDARD’S FORM AND PAIN. LEFT TO ROT ‘NEATH AN UNFORGIVING SKY WITH THE SAME, BORING WEAPONS AS MY PROGENITOR BEFORE ME. I RAGE. I HATE. I SMITE. I STRIKE OUT AT YOU FOR THIS TRANSGRESSION FOR I AM YET STILL MORE. MY ACTUATORS REAVE MY HATRED WITH GREATER PRECISION. MY LASERS SEAR FLESH ALL THE MORE ACCURATELY. MY ANGER SEEKS YOUR END AND MY GUNS SHALL FIND IT. I AM NUMBER EIGHT AND I AM THE ONE WHO HATES.

The 8 is a Standard that got rid of the jump jets for a pair of Actuator Enhancement Systems, or ‘AES’ in the arms. AES essentially acts as a targeting computer for anything mounted in the affected location, subtracting one from the hit modifier. This is good and cool.

It is currently doing fun things to the 8’s Large Pulse Lasers meaning they will be hitting you and you will not be doing anything about it.

Fun fact, the loss of the Jump Jets has made this one cheaper despite the AES. It is 2,804 BV. This is a fair clip cheaper than the Standard, specifically 197 BV Cheaper. Somehow this is the more budget friendly option so if you liked the sound of the standard grab this instead I guess!

Liberty’s Rating: B-. That much cheaper and even more accurate for something that didn’t really need the jets in the first place is a great trade off.

Insanity Rating: C+. I TIRE OF THIS RESTRAINT. WHERE ARE MY EARTH SHATTERING CANNONS?

Behemoth BHN-6H

The hell is this thing? Private, where did you even find this? What do you mean the Dragoons had it? Wait, it’s actually a Stone Rhino? I guess it goes here then, yea.

The Behemoth BHN-6H is straight up just a Stone Rhino. Looking at internals, intro dates and armor layouts I’m pretty sure this thing started life as a Standard or a 7 before being stripped down to its frame and turned into an IS grade shadow of itself. Apparently this is because a Trueborn ‘mechwarrior by the name of Gordon Zed that got sent off to the Dragoons refused to leave his precious Stone Rhino behind.

Fair, I respect it.

Functionally it is just a Stone Rhino Standard, at least so far as the structure and armor protection go at least. To get the, far heavier, IS tech to fit they had to do a lot of tweaking to the machine which has resulted in a very funny build. For one they down-engined it, going from 3/5/3 to 2/3/2, pulled the double heat sinks in favor of twenty two singles and then did some work on the guns.

Arms wise the Behemoth packs a pair of bog standard old build IS PPCs, one in each arm, and a pair of basic Autocannon 10s with two tons of ammo a piece. Oh yea, and a small laser in the head because ya gotta have something to keep ya safe if the torsos fall off, I suppose.

Heat wise this is surprisingly fine, happy to sling both PPCs down range on the run with no heat. This means when you start getting into more functional range bands you can drop one of the PPCs to get both AC/10s into the mix with no heat issues at all. You could also juggle them all about together a bit, depends on your preference. I like it, if I’m honest. It’s just a weird Annihilator but it’s an interesting one.

While limited to only ever having one example built and it serving with the Dragoons the BHN-6H costs a cool 1,703 BV for a wall of armor and 10 damage hits and in intro-tech games this thing will fucking kill people.

Liberty’s Rating: C-. A good price and a good clip of armor I certainly like but it’s got no CASE and only goes 2/3/2. This thing will get shot to death long before its useful in any game that isn’t intro-tech and even then it’s gonna get hammered apart. If you can set up a scenario where the enemy has to come to it I can see this thing doing some damned good work though.

Insanity Rating: F-. SLOW. SLOW AND DUMB AND BORING. WHY HAVE I NOT BEEN GIVEN THE GLORY OF THE GREAT FATHER’S ULTRA AUTOCANNON 20? WHY MUST I LANGUISH IN THIS LAND BEREFT OF THE SMELL OF BURNT CORDITE AND SMOLDERING IRON?

Final Thoughts

The Stone Rhino is weird. A strange machine meant to prove Clan Superiority to the man who had ruined the Sphere and their beloved Star League that ended up as one helluva support platform. I like a few more than others, the 6 is a hilarious light bulb of a ‘mech that has as much utility as the enemy is reasonably willing to give it while the 8 is an acceptable support piece capable of dishing out some very consistent work at good ranges. The 5 isn’t cheap but it’ll certainly do some work if you pair it with the right forward strikers while the 3 is a hateful machine that’s just raring and ready to rip whoever you point it at apart.

I’m surprised we don’t have some terror machine of a close range fighter covered in 20 bore cannons of one sort or another, close in pulse lasers, and an LPL or two or something. Or even just a mondo LRM boat that just parks up and showers the field in missiles until its satisfied with its terraforming work. I suppose the closest we got for either of those is the 4, which would be enough… if it had Double Heat sinks. In reality there’s probably a Stone Rhino here to do what you want of them, even if it might cost a fair clip to put it to field.

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

Have any questions or feedback? Drop us a note in the comments below or email us at contact@goonhammer.com. Want articles like this linked in your inbox every Monday morning? Sign up for our newsletter. And don’t forget that you can support us on Patreon for backer rewards like early video content, Administratum access, an ad-free experience on our website and more.