Patrick originally put me on a different journalistic assignment, but you know what?
All the monkeys I could give ran away and climbed trees.
Possibly due to the sheer shock and awe of the latest freeby that the Gamescrafstmen have produced for the bonus attack package this war.
And its another shield!
Love a shield!
And this one is so far up my alley, it hit the wall at the far end and had to do a back flip!
Tonnage range between 65 and 80, so mountable on most Heavies and the Lighter Huge mechs. That's mid range clans, or the three cruiserweight specialist types. Comparative to other shields, it straddles Gamma and Delta grade pieces.
Shielding stats are 37% Fork, 32% Splash, Wide Fork 50% and a straight blocking ability of 21 damage points. 11% Fire Shield and a 7% Ice vulnerability is the reverse of any of the standard ice shields, either single aspect or the newer dual units.
Now the Fire and Ice statistics are lower than both the Gamma and Delta shields, but straight shield aspect is almost slap bang between the 2, making this a reasonable addition alongside the Gamma shields.
Now the veterans will have already noticed that while the previous prize pack shield (the Deflector Dish) was very definitely a rear rank piece, it bears pointing out to our newer players that this was squarely designed as a front line piece.
To get any of the extra protection that the Saturn gives (and you won't get them all together) you need Evador Bolts, Calibrated Joints or niode equipment like Telemetry Kits. The point being, it takes away from chassis which is dodge, therefore making your front line vulnerable.
Not with the Saturn Shield!
And of course, 65 and 70 Ton don't even get the above options, they have had to give up a shield in any case.
I can see these things being well popular....
Submitted by David McCallum #701548