V5.00ÿÿ? Thorn IIE ¾ Ø“Á€âC€âC€A A@ML 2 2 2 2 —— 6 x  ¨ (Unknown)K (Unknown)4 (Unknown)4 (Unknown)4 ¨KÛ  4 âÿE( The Thorn is an older BattleMech design, incorporated into the Hegemony Armed Forces during the late 24th Century. Though never seen by the main-line Inner Sphere units combating the Clans in the initial invasion of Smoke Jaguar territory, the Clans retained the Thorn design during their self-imposed exlie from the warring Successor States. It was originally a favorite of the Not-Named Clan, respected for it's simmilarity to their namesake- small, but possesseed of a dangerous bite. After the destruction of Clan Wolverine, the remaining examples of the design languished in the caches of several of the Clans, most notably Clan Wolf and Clan Snow Raven. Clan Nova Cat also aquired a few examples of the venerable old design, but declared them unfit for use due to their tainted heritage and locked them away. The Khans of Clans Wolf and Snow Raven did allow their Thorns to be used, but only by Freeborns who served in second-line units. The Thorns possessed by Clan Nova Cat were kept in darkness and disuse until a desperate situation called them forth- the Abjurment of the Clan. The few remaining Thorns were among the Mechs taken by the retreating Nova Cat forces, their light weight and heavier-than-average firepower for a light mech making them very economical weapons upon which to base a new Battlemech force. After taking up residence in the territory of the Draconis Combine, the Nova Cats began producing this varriant of the Thorn for defense of their new territories. Using ClanTech weapons, they were able to eliminate the need for the hard to produce Endo-Steel chasis while keeping the Thorn's excellent armament. This combination of tried-and-true design and ClanTech makes the Thorn IIE one of the most dangerous light Mechs in existence, commanding the respect of much larger Mechs. Updated with ClanTech, the Thorn IIE has become a favorite of the Inner Sphere mercenaries that can obtain them. The export version that is sold by Clan Nova Cat is not outfitted with the latest or most powerful Clan equipment, but that does not mean that they cannot best any Inner Sphere design of equal weight with little trouble. The Clan LRM-5 that the IIE possesses is far more versitile than it's best Inner Sphere counterpart, lacking the short-range tracking problems that similar Inner Sphere systems are still unable to overcome. This means that the IIE can use it's LRMs even in close-up brawls, giving it a distinct firepower advantage over other versions of this Mech. The greater range of the Clan Medium Lasers are also a boon to the Thorn, allowing it to deal more damage to an attacker farther out than it's Inner Sphere cousins. Many unwarry Mechwarriors of an Inner Sphere mercenary unit have faced this 'mech thinking themselves safely out of range of the worst of the unit's firepower... only to rethink that assumption from the relative safety of some ground-level cover and concealment while they stare at the smoldering remains of their Mech. Also included in the Nova Cat redesign is a Micro Pulse Laser mounted on the outside of the LRM launcher. This weapn was originally intended for use agianst agressing infantry units, but it's placement was later discovered to be ill-suited for this. Attacking an infantry unit with the laser means having to orient the entire LRM unit in that direction- generally almost directly at the 'Mech's feet- thus rendering the LRM launcher useless for long-range attacks. This weakness has lead to the removal of the laser on some models, though it's small size and light weight make it difficult to find anything to replace it with. Most Mechwarriors simply leave it there and refrain from using it, while taking comfort in the fact that if they are using the laser agianst infantry, they are at least not threatened by something worth pointing their LRM rack at.    oMech Data & Info: Paul Parnell Mech Source: 2750 TRO (8613) Crit. Source: 3050 RS Book (1696) Modified by JC [ none ] (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown) (Unknown)