V5.00ˆÿÿdLei-Gong LG-7AW/EDû ºº•úP1EP1EˆA@A@AMA 8 8 4 3 3— 2 ecmÈ" *" * , G( Zhi-tong-yao) Death BlossomxApple Churchill GuardianG Zhi-tong-yao) Death BlossomB $Voelkers ParasolB McArthur IIB McArthur II)))xx)))))) BBBBGGGGGGG××GGGGGGGÒ Ò Ò B × ××ìÿ0yThe Lei-Going (Thunder Dragon) appears to be a design that appeared in the Capellan military during the initial years of the Word of Blake Jihad. It is unclear as to exactly how these machines came into the Capellan arsenal, and some factors suggest that they were supplied by the Blakists prior to the outbreak of hostilities. The Lei-Gong appears to be based around a heavily redesigned Atlas chassis, using an inexpensive turbine engine rather than the common fusion plant. This factor makes the Lei-Gong something of an anachronism amongst modern military forces, but records seem to indicate the design was fairly successful.The Lei-Gong was designed in some respects to behave like a "pocket Thunder Hawk," and utilizes the popular dual Gauss Rifle configuration for its main offensive armament. A small array of Rocket Launchers are also present, but it seems that these may be intended more as a quick booster for the TSM system than a proper weapon system component. The Lei-Gong mounts a substantial defensive array, including a Guardian ECM system (it appears the design was originally intended to mount stealth armor, based on some hull geometry considerations that survived to the final design) and an unprecedented four anti-missile systems, two mounted in reversable arms and two fixed rear on ball turrets in "achilles tendon" region. Interestingly, the AMS units are old MacArthur IIs of Star League vintage. TLei-Gong pilots were trained to leave one of their torso-mounted heat sinks turned off (they were told it was intended for emergency use only), and to turn off the arm mounted sink if they were not firing the gauss cannons. This created a heat curve where the Lei-Gong could quickly activate its TSM by firing three of its rocket pods, and then retain the ideal heat level by running and using its gauss cannons at a regular firing rate. The Lei-Gong was not terribly well regarded by outside observers, but its operators (mostly low-priority garrison warriors who had previously only had tanks and armored cars in their arsenals) found it more than up to the test. More than a few Blakist 'mechs were felled by theses "inferior" ICE 'mechs, and in the years after the Jihad Lei-Gongs still occasionally participated in clashes against the Republic.£Many minor variants of this design exist because few repair parts were available to the second-line commands that operated this machine; consequently, most repairs more significant than armor patching required the use of parts from other machines. One common variant is the so-called LG-7XD ("eXtended Duration") version, which replaces two tons of AMS ammunition with two tons of Gauss ammunition. The additional ammunition feed equipment requires some extra time to install, but overall the XD type is reportedly an easy variant to create. Another common variant is the LG-7AWD ("Alternate Weapons Distribution") model, which is created with a kit distributed by Ceres Metals. The AWD is intended to redress a problem with one delivery batch of the Lei-Gong, which had defective CASE panels in the left torso. The kit moves the weapon systems into a new (safe) configuration. Unfortunately, the kit reduces the AMS ammunition load to levels comparable to the XD type, though oddly it does add another point-defense AMS turret to the rear. Reportedly, the AWD's rear turret was supposed to house a standard machine gun, but problems with the ammo feed system caused it to be linked into the AMS feed instead. A rare subtype of the LG-7AWD is the LG-7XR (eXtra Rockets), which removes the two arm-mounted Macarthur II AMS units. The defensive power of these weapons is nominally replaced by placing two more Voelkers Parasol systems in the left-rear ball turret, but the arc of fire is not sufficient to engage most missile threats. The arm-mounted heat sink is also removed, and replaced with a brace of 30 rockets. This design was unpopular because pilots complained it did not provide enough heat dissipation, and XRs usually only appeared in sectors where replacement MacArthur II AMS units were not available. One of the reasons the XR was so rare was that refits to the configuration were gradually shifted to a somewhat more efficient design, known as the AW/ED (Alternate Weapons / Enhanced Defense). The AW/ED redesigned the central ammunition feed significantly lengthen the right torso ammo cannister for the antimissile system. At the same time, the left arm gauss slug bin was removed. The bin the left arm was a holdover from the old XD refit, and was not well suited to feeding the right-side mounted weapons array of the AWD type; pilots complained about longer reload times and jamming problems - especially as the Jihad wore on and repair and refit started to become a problem. More common than the XR is the so-called LXR variant, which applies the same modifications, but was done to Lei-Gongs from the later batches, which did not have the defective left torso CASE units. The LG-7LXR Lei-Gong had the same problems as the XR, but also suffered from a vulnerable arm-mounted heatsink, and was universall unpopular. As with the XR, the LXR was only sighted in units that could not aquire replacement MacArthur II AMS units. From time to time, C3 versions of the Lei-Gong also appeared, though these were generally restricted to machines that were 'drafted' into front-line formations to replace battle losses. As a fire-support platform, the Lei-Gong performed well, though moving the machine into a support role somewhat eliminated the viability of using the machine's mighty kick attack at close range. It is rumored that a fusion-powered version, with a higher landspeed and stealth armor exists, but these reports have not been confirmed. Given the "budget" nature of the Lei-Gong, it seems unlikely this design would be slated for such an upgrade, but of course very little can be taken for granted with the Capellans (who are famous across the Sphere for their skill at misdirection and 'maskirovka')ÚRoland Miller - Miller was a civilian engineer before he was pressed into service during the Jihad. Assigned to pilot one of his militia unit's Lei-Gongs, he suggested several modifications to increase the survivability of his machine. By carefully rewiring the main myomer chains, he was able to protect the leg-mounted AMS ammunition stores in the torso CASE. The price of these improvements was that he had to move the two torso-mounted heat sinks into the shoulders, a change that did not initially seem to be a major flaw. Unfortunately, during a battle in 3069 a Blakist Legacy 'mech ripped his arms off, and Miller's 'mech overheated critically with its entire heat system removed. To add insult to injury, the Legacy (whose cannons had run out of amunition) beat him with his own severed arms until his 'mech's torsos exploded from overheating and his machine went into shutdown. The serious neural damage Miller received from the explosion feedback put him in a psychiatric hospital for most of the remainder of the war, but after his recovery he continued to advocate for the design changes (noting that his own misfortune was little more than the random tides of war) and several militia units have adopted the modifications. for a contest on HMP [ none ] (Unknown) (Unknown)Ceres CC-Super 4 Star SlabLGAS Special-100Army Comm. Class 5Army Corporation Type 29K (Unknown)