compiled overview of the 40ton Watchman 'Mech, from various BattleTech novels and game sourcebooks:



During the invasion, many Inner Sphere commanders concluded that the best way to fight the Clans was to assign front-line troops advanced equipment and to place them in front of the incoming juggernaut.

This method, used by both the Federated Commonwealth and the Draconis Combine, left many borders short-changed in manpower and equipment. Local governments everywhere raised their concerns. One of the loudest in the Federated Commonwealth was Duke Aaron Sandoval, leader of the Draconis March. Unable and unwilling to return front-line units, Prince Hanse Davion quieted the Old Duke by sending him older equipment and training units. Hanse Davion also invited Duke Sandoval to share the cost of retooling a factory to produce the Watchman, an inexpensiv BattleMech suited for defense and training.

Hanse Davion required the design of the new 'Mech be based on a current model to reduce the capital investment. In no time, the old Enforcer was chosen as the basis for the design. As most factories that built Enforcers had already been upgraded to the new technology, huge stores of older parts were available.

The Watchman design dropped the autocannon because of weight considerations and the expense of ammunition for a training environment. This left the 'Mech a little under-gunned, so the designers added a pair of ChisComp 39 medium lasers, found prominently on the early Dervishes. The two SperryBrowning machine guns were added as an afterthought, when anti-infantry weapons were appended to the specifications.

The cockpit controls were simplified, to facilitate instruction of inexperienced MechWarriors. The Enforcer's armor was replaced with Starshield A armor with CASE and the old McCloud Special jump jets were replaced by the more popular and less costly HildCo Model 12 jump jets, which permit the 'Mech to jump 150 meters. These changes lowered the weight of the completed design to 40 tons.

The Watchman showed its true colors when compared to light 'Mechs such as the Wasp and the Valkyrie, both plentiful in militia units. It carried more than twice the armor of a Wasp, and effectively paced the Valkyrie in fieled tests. Reliance on older, surplus beam weapons assures the Watchman a long life in garrison and training units.

The initial production of the new Watchman was delivered to the Second Robinson Rangers stationed on Phact. Although still quite rare, the 'Mech promises to become the backbone of the Federated Commonwealth's militia system, even if the Old Duke would prefer to keep them all to himself.

Since the introduction of the Watchman, an increase in militia recruits was recorded for both the Crucis and Draconis Marches. Neither the Lyran Commonwealth State Command nor the Capellean March have shown any interest in the Watchman, content with the 'Mechs and the equipment they possess.



Note: Information used here was the domain of FASA before they split the rights between Wizkids LLC and Microsoft (table-top gaming and video games respectively). Copyright of the fluff text is in limbo, but names of persons, places, & things are without any doubt the property of Wizkids LLC. Use of any terms here related to the BattleTech trademark are not meant as a challenge to Wizkids LLC's rights.

Watch"man (?), n.; pl. Watchmen ().

1.

One set to watch; a person who keeps guard; a guard; a sentinel.

2.

Specifically, one who guards a building, or the streets of a city, by night.

Watchman beetle Zool., the European dor. -- Watchman's clock, a watchman's detector in which the apparatus for recording the times of visiting several stations is contained within a single clock. -- Watchman's detector, ∨ Watchman's time detector, an apparatus for recording the time when a watchman visits a station on his rounds. -- Watchman's rattle, an instrument having at the end of a handle a revolving arm, which, by the action of a strong spring upon cogs, produces, when in motion, a loud, harsh, rattling sound.

 

© Webster 1913.

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