StarDate 3/2
Chassis: Starcorps 100
Power Plant: VOX 340
Cruising Speed: 43 kph (32 kph)
Maximum Speed: 64 kph (54 kph)
Jump Jets: None
Jump Capacity: None
Armor: Valiant Lamellor (Leviathon Plus)
Armament:
2 Sian/Ceres Tiger LRM-20 Racks
2 Sian/Ceres Tiger LRM-5 Racks
(4 Martell Medium Lasers)
Manufacturer: Starcorp Industries
Communications System: O/P 3000 Comset
Targeting and Tracking System: O/P 1560 IMTS
The LGB-OW Longbow is a popular design used by all the houses of the inner sphere. The exact number of those produced is unknown, but they are found in the regiments of nearly all armies. Limited production of the two models shown here continues to this day in most of the Successor States.
The Longbow was designed to act as a heavy support unit for assault groups. With its long range missiles it is capable of standing off at long range and launching a devastating preparatory attack against enemy positions and cities.
Capabilities:
The Longbow is a late model BattleMech that utilizes the O/P 1560 Laser Directed Missile Targeting and Tracking System. Using a Locust or Flea equipped with the targeting system as a spotter, the Longbow is capable of acquiring a target that it cannot see and delivering a barrage of missiles with the same accuracy as if it had sighted the target visually. This ability has made the Longbow a dreaded opponent.
The Longbow does not usually suffer from heat buildup due to its battlefield mission. When used in a support role where movement is not required, it can fire consecutive barrages of missiles while accumulating very little heat.
Even though the OW model has no short-range armament, its weight (85 tons) makes a punch or kick a potent defense. The later 8C model has medium lasers forward and aft which improve the Longbow's close-in defense capabilities.
Battle History:
The Longbow is half of a very effective 'hunter-killer' team, with specially equipped Fleas or Locusts as the hunters and the Longbow as the killer. In tactical usage the light 'Mech searches out enemy units and pinpoints their location with its laser-directed targeting system. The Longbow then strikes, its long-range missiles guided to the target by the unseen laser beam.
The true value of this tactic is being able to engage an enemy unit without exposing 'Mechs. In most cases, the 'hunter-killer' teams are able to surprise their foes and set the balance of power in their favor. It is in this role that the Longbow is most commonly used, and MechWarriors who seek to avoid being hammered by them are advised to be on the lookout for hidden light 'Mechs.
The Longbow is also found in regular army units and is operated in normal BattleMech fashion. Its most common battlefield mission, when used in this manner, is as long-range support unit, much like that performed by the Archer.
Variants:
The two models of Longbows shown in this article are the most common, but there are several other variants built on this chassis. Some of these variants trade off armor for medium-range weapons while others have been modified to incorporate more heat sinks and provide greater maneuverability. Such variants are very limited in number and therefore are not covered here in detail.
Notable 'Mechs and Mech Warriors:
MechWarriors Muzakka and Smallberry
One of the most famous hunter-killer teams of all time consisted of a Locust and a Longbow serving with the regular army forces of House Marik. The Locust, piloted by Oshira Muzakka, operated as the target acquisition scout for a Longbow piloted by Jon Smallberry. When Muzakka would find his prey, he would 'paint' the target with his laser targeting system so that Smallberry could acquire it and unleash a
swift missile barrage against the unsuspecting foe. For twelve years they worked together destroying their enemies and finally became so infamous that many regiments put a bounty on their heads. They had certainly become one of the most respected fighting teams in all the inner sphere.
They met their demise in a most uncomplimentary fashion on the world of Sakhalin. They were attacked while both of them were out of their 'Mechs repairing a foot servo on the Locust. Taken completely by surprise, Muzakka was severely wounded in the initial burst of fire and Smallberry just barely managed to escape back to his Longbow, only to find that he was confronted by four'Mechs: an Awesome, an Orion and two Thunderbolts. Hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned, he launched a full barrage of missiles at the leading 'Mech, a Thunderbolt, and backed away. Over 30 missiles struck the T-bolt and penetrated the cockpit, killing the pilot.
As Smallberry fired a second round of missiles at the Orion, he was charged by the Awesome. Muzakka entered the fray in his Locust, engaging the second Thunderbolt in his damaged machine though wounded himself. The battle turned into a metallic brawl of swirling, spitting machines fighting to the death. When the Awesome impacted Smallberry's 'Mech, both machines stumbled backwards, towards the lip of a l50-meter deep crevasse less than 100 meters away, and became locked in an unequal hand-to-hand combat. In the confusion, a stray round hit the Awesome in its engine compartment; the crippled larger 'Mech collapsed into the overborne Longbow and Smallberry and his machine fell backwards, into the abyss.
His luck run out, Smallberry did not live to see what his last missile barrage had done. The Orion he fired at took over 30 hits in its legs, blowing one off completely and disjointing the other at the knee. As it fell, still firing, one of its shots may have been the one that hit the Awesome.
Muzakka, in the meantime, had escaped the fire of the second Thunderbolt and was dealing out some punishment of his own. The first shot from his medium laser blasted off the T-bolt's left hand and the second struck the cockpit. The stunned pilot wavered, and this allowed Muzakka to break away and move towards Smallberry's position. Stepping over an obstacle, the Locust's damaged foot servo went out and the 'Mech toppled heavily to the ground. The T-bolt, recovered from the stun, stepped up to the fallen hunter and fired one last aimed shot to the head. Muzakka never felt it; the crushing fall had already killed him.
Moments after the final shot, the Awesome suffered an internal ammunition explosion that destroyed it and damaged the remaining T-bolt, which fled, conceding the field. After the battle the damaged Thunderbolt, Orion, and Locust were recovered, and the Awesome and Smallberry's Longbow scavenged for a few still-usable parts. There were not many.
Muzakka's Locust is reportedly being used by one of Liao's regiments and still carries a bounty for its destruction.
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