(OOC): Mech Overview 2. The Monster of York
It’s not a stretch to say the Blood Kite is my favorite ‘Mech. If it isn’t my favorite overall, its definitely my second favorite, and by far my favorite assault.
Named for Clan Blood Spirit’s de-facto totem animal, the Blood Kite was designed at a time in which Clan Blood Spirit possessed only three galaxies, and OmniMechs were beginning to spread throughout the other Clans. Seeing the weakness of the Spirits at the time, Khan Ceana Boques set out to completely overhaul the Clan’s fighting ability. While the changes to training programs are not the topic of this article, the goals she set forth for new ‘Mech designs are.
What she called for was a BattleMech that 1. Cost as little as possible. 2.was as survivable as possible. 3. Had as much firepower as possible, and could sustain such fire. And 4. Was as efficient as possible.
What the Scientist caste offered her was the Blood Kite, one of the most durable BattleMechs to ever roll off the production line.
Forgoing any weight saving technology sans an endosteel frame, the Blood Kite lacks the typical Clan ‘Mech vulnerability of an extra-light engine, and 15 tons of standard armor leave the 85 ton frame relatively well protected, only a bit under maximum armor for the weight. A top speed of 50 kph sits at the average for an assault ‘Mech, bolstered by 90 meters of jumping ability. For weaponry, the Standard model mounts 3 ER large lasers, 3 LRM 15 racks, and 3 SRM 4 racks. 6 tons of ammo for the LRMs means that each launcher has deep bins to draw from, while the single ton of ammo split between all three SRM launchers belies their use as reserve weapons. 21 double heat sinks means the Blood Kite builds 10 heat firing all of its long ranged weapons at once, but leaves it easily manageable to a skilled pilot (Which, due to the elite training standard held by the Clan, any Blood Kite pilot would necessarily be.)
The standard is a monster, capable of taking and giving in equal measure, and due to the placement of two of its lasers along the centerline, capable of remaining combat effective even with both of its side torsos destroyed (an already difficult feat for many ‘mechs given the thick layers of armor.) In my experience, you can take on a Star of anything lighter in a Kite and take several turns to defeat, while taking out plenty of chunks out of your foe. Paired with lighter ‘Mechs or ProtoMechs, the Blood Kite can make a powerful defensive lynchpin to hold a significantly larger enemy force while your skirmishers get behind them and make them hurt.
The second configuration is not much of an upgrade, and is in fact in my experience, worse.
Thanks to a greater availability of advanced technology provided by Clan Fire Mandrill in the 3060s, Clan Blood Spirit stripped out the large lasers, SRMs, and a single LRM, in order to mount 3 ER PPCs and add artemis IV targeting to the remaining LRMs. Unfortunately, this valiant fails to mount any additional heat sinks, meaning that unlike the standard, which had high but ultimately very manageable heat, the 2 overwhelmingly runs very very hot. Ultimately, the standard variant remains much more effective on the battlefield.
A point must also stand for its sheer ubiquity among the Blood Spirits. Blood Kites, despite being their premier BattleMech are found in almost every single cluster of the Clan, and were in continual production from the 2900s all the way through at least 3071, when York was destroyed, and likely beyond, as they had moved much of their infrastructure to Haven by then.
While it never made it to the Inner Sphere, the Blood Kite remains alive in Clan Stone Lion, who had captured factories for the production of the BattleMech, as well as in smaller quantities in the toumans of Clans Star Adder and Cloud Cobra.
