Buccaneer (BattleMech)

Buccaneer
Production information
Manufacturer	Gibson Federated BattleMechs
Model	BCN-3R
Class	Medium
Cost	11,664,370 Cbills
Technical specifications
Mass	55 tons
Chassis	Standard
Armor	Kallon FWL Special Ferro-Fibrous
Engine	VOX 330 XL
Speed	97.2 km/h
Armament	1xSRM-6 with Artemis IV 1xER Large Laser 4xMedium Lasers 1xMedium Pulse Laser 1xHatchet
BV (1.0)	1,091
BV (2.0)	1,434

This article is about the BattleMech. For the civilian DropShip, see Buccaneer (DropShip).

Description

The Buccaneer is a product of the Word of Blake's voracious appetite for military equipment in its first few years, as the order had more MechWarriors than they had 'Mechs. The Buccaneer was originally designed to be used by ComStar, but had not begun production. When the schism that created the Word of Blake occurred, the design was modified to accommodate equipment available to the Word of Blake in their temporary home of the Free Worlds League. The Buccaneer is built with a lightweight VOX 330 XL Engine that weighs half as much as a standard fusion engine while giving the 'Mech a top speed of 97.2 km/h. It also carries an impressive ten tons of armor, the maximum amount of armor the 'Mech can carry. The Buccaneer utilizes double heat sinks that dissipate twice as much heat as standard heat sinks.

Armament

Designed primarily for short range combat, the Buccaneer carries a single Diverse Optics Sunbeam ER Large Laser to give it some striking capability at long ranges. With its mostly short range arsenal, the Buccaneer excels at close combat. With the elevation of physical combat to an art in the Inner Sphere, the Buccaneer's most fearsome weapon is its four ton Hatchet. For combat at medium to close ranges, the Buccaneer has four Diverse Optics Type 18 Medium Lasers backed up by a highly accurate Starflash Medium Pulse Laser and an Irian Weapons Works 60mm SRM-6 with an Artemis IV guidance system for increased missile accuracy.

Variants

• BCN-5W - This variant of the Buccaneer is almost completely a new 'Mech, except for the Hatchet and XL Engine. The 5W is a vicious city fighter that uses a Ceres Arms Crusher Plasma Rifle to damage enemies and force heat buildup in enemy 'Mechs. It is complemented by a trio of Ceres Arms Model 8 Heavy Machine Guns linked together in a Hellespont Machine Gun Array. The 5W also includes a C3i Computer that allows it to share targeting data with other Blakist units. In order to make room for all of these enhancements, the 5W's engine was downgraded to a 275-rated VOX (giving it a top speed of 86.4 km/h), but it adds seven improved jump jets that allow it to jump 210 meters at a time. The standard complement of double heat sinks keeps the Buccaneer chilly, but space constraints necessitated the downgrading of the armor to ten tons of Light Ferro-Fibrous. BV (1.0) = ??, BV (2.0) = 1,393

Bibliography

• Record Sheets: 3060
• Technical Readout: 3060
• Chaos March (sourcebook), p. 50, 68
• Technical Readout: 3058, pp. 64-65
• Technical Readout: 3058 Upgrade, pp. 108-109
• BCN-5W Buccaneer Technical Readout