Upgrade Cost:
10 tons
20 Base Armor
Starts with 1 Weapon slots +1 every 6 levels
Minimum Level 1
Manufacturer: AlphaCorp
Starting Weapons: 1 Heavy Machinegun (projectile, damage 1, speed 110)
Level 1 bonuses: 0 Speed, +5% Projectile Damage
Level 110 equipment: 3 Cockpit, 1 chassis, 0 Engine, 3 Shield
Level 110 bonuses: 30 Speed, +95% Projectile Damage, 30 Precision, Laser Shield (55), Missile Shield (55), Projectile Shield (55), Fire Shield (45), Ice Shield (45)
Alpha Corp calls it the Model A but pretty much everyone familiar with the Red Ant calls it the Black Ant. The Illyrian Hegemony beat the Meji shogunate by just a couple years in fielding the Red Ant first. To get the Model A into the field as fast as possible the Meji Shogunate decided to cut some corners on initial production models and make up for it later. The engineers at AlphaCorp may not be as creative as the independent Hermit-Engineers or Cyber-Monks of the mecha monasteries but they can reverse engineer things faster than most and are very good at finding more efficient ways of doing things.
In 3089 the Meji Shogunate forces began fielding the Model A against Illyrian Hegemony incursions into their territory. Unlike the laser toting Red Ant the Black Ant carried a heavy machine gun and had to worry about ammunition supplies as well, the first several production runs also had no exo-atmospheric capabilities and very limited life support systems. These choices had made it easier to field the Model A quickly enough to save the Shogunate at the time from Hegemony domination.
Ammunition became a big issue in 3090 when Hegemony forces cut off supplies to a battalion of Model A’s and demanded that they surrender. However battalion commander Hagane ordered the units maintenance personnel to provide each functioning Model A a meter long bayonet and a large blade as back up from the metal armor and frames of mecha too badly damaged to repair. The Hegemony had forgotten that all members of the Shogunate Warrior caste practice swordsmanship regularly and that they would rather die than be dishonored by surrendering. When they moved in to destroy the besieged battalion they were surprised that as the Shogunate guns went silent they counter-charged the attacking Hegemony Red Ants and engaged them in melee combat. Such blades are now common modifications on Shogunate mecha.
Since then the Model A has been only slightly changed to improve life support, engine efficiency and being able to operate in any atmospheric environment. It has also become popular on the fringe were cheep ballistic weapons are much more common than energy beam weapons. As such AlphaCorp actually exports many Model A’s deliberately labeled Black Ants to the Society of Cogwerk Planets and the Fringe.
(Looks like a black version of the Red Ant maybe with a bayonet on its weapon, speed was reduced to make up for the fact that Ballistic weapons are faster than laser weapons)
Submitted by Sean Wadey#356579