V5.007PChargerCGR-3A5 ` `E`EAA@MA 6 3 4 3 12 5  !! % Z (Unknown)Z (Unknown)# (Unknown)Z (Unknown)9 (Unknown)ZZZZZ######### 9 ##Dating back to the days of the old Star League, the Charger BattleMech has always been maligned as a good idea gone wrong. The original Charger certainly was a mistake. Originally intended as a heavy scout, it was armed only with 5 Small Lasers. In addition to this useless armament, it was severely underarmored for its size, and still slow for a scout. This led to many Chargers being mothballed throughout the years, though in recent years, attempts have been made to rework the design to make it effective. The CGR-3A5 is the culmination of House Steiner's efforts to make an effective mech out of the Charger. Seeing what other Houses had done to their Chargers, conversions that usually involved lowering the speed and installing a big gun such as a Heavy class Autocannon in the right torso, designers immediately noted the possibility for a very effective platform for the new Heavy Gauss Rifle.PSteiner engineers, having further noted that other converted Chargers had retained their standard Fusion engine, saw room for even further improvement. Replacing the heavy standard fusion engine with an equivalent XL version saved many tons of weight, which could be devoted to weapons and armor. A massive Heavy Gauss Rifle was installed in the right torso of the mech, and it was decided that the rest of the armament would consist primarily of medium-class lasers. Realizing that the Heavy Gauss Rifle was most effective only at very short ranges, the designers sought to improve the speed further through the use of Triple Strength Myomer. This pushes the mech's top speed to a frightening 97.2 kilometers per hour, as fast as most medium mechs. The heat required for the TSM to operate necessitated that the standard Medium Lasers be replaced with the newer Extended Range Medium Lasers. In addition, a small laser was installed in the head of the mech to aid in heat management and discourage Battle Armor attacks. The end result of this program was absolutely frightening. Here was a mech that mounted both a Heavy Gauss Rifle and a barrage of medium lasers, and ran as fast as a Phoenix Hawk. Even more, it had 15 tons of armor, providing plenty of protection against enemy counterattacks. The Triple Strength Myomer it mounted also meant that simply going point-blank to avoid the Heavy Gauss was no longer an option; any mech that tried it would be met immediately with TSM-powered punches and kicks. The Archon was indeed pleased with the design, and ordered it into full production immediately.       [ none ]Wells Technologies (Unknown)LTVDurallex Heavy Wells 990 Tek BattleCom Dalban HiRez (Unknown)