Named for the first Jade Falcon to be tamed, the Turkina was introduced by Clan Jade Falcon just in time for the Battle of Tukayyid. From a design point-of-view, the new OmniMech fell somewhere between an Executioner and a Dire Wolf. Its smaller engine means it is only as fast as the Dire Wolf, but its built-in jump jets echo the Executioner.
While the Turkina was initially exclusive to Clan Jade Falcon, it spread to both Clan Nova Cat and Clan Smoke Jaguar by the start of the 3060s. Then over the next decade, it was adopted by the Clans that had remained in the Homeworlds. Since the fall of the Republic, it has spread further with Clan Sea Fox, the Rasalhague Dominion, and Wolf’s Dragoons all fielding at least a few of them.
Read This First
- Find a good firing position, use your jump jets to get into position, and then fire away
- When you are running hot, hold fire with an LRM or both in order to cool back off
- Use cluster shots with your autocannons at longer ranges to improve accuracy or to increase your chances of scoring critical hits
- Be careful about letting enemies get to your left since that side has less firepower and is more explosive
Turkina Prime
- Role: Sniper
- Tech Base: Clan (3052)
- Chassis: 95 tons
- Movement: 3 / 5, XL
- Jumping: 3
- Armor: 288
- Heat Sinks: 19 (38)
- Weapons:
- ER PPC × 2
- LRM 15 × 2 (ammo: 24)
- LB 5-X AC × 2 (ammo: 20 standard, 20 cluster)
- Equipment:
- CASE
- Design Quirks:
- Easy to Pilot
- Cost: 26,940,469 C-Bills
- Battle Value: 2,944
Mobility
The Turkina’s jump jets make it more mobile than many assault ’Mechs even if its ground speed is only average for its tonnage. It only has 3 walking MP and 5 running MP. That is just fast enough to manage a +2 target movement modifier running in a straight line through clear terrain, but in most situations a Turkina will be at just a +1 modifier or worse. That low modifier means that a MechWarrior can be just as protected standing still in favorable terrain as when they are moving. The 3 jump jets then let the Turkina easily bypass rough terrain in order to find that ideal firing perch.
Durability
As a 95-ton ’Mech with nearly maxed out armor protection, the Turkina is quite durable. It is equipped with a Clan XL engine that makes it more vulnerable to side torso destruction, and ammo in those locations means that can happen suddenly. The right torso has 10% of its critical slots as missiles, and the left has 18% of its slots filled with more missiles. That can make a loss of armor on its left torso particularly hazardous even though CASE prevents any explosion from spreading to the center torso. The Turkina Prime’s left arm also carries autocannon shells that fill 17% of its critical slots. A hit to those causes the loss of its two autocannons but is otherwise contained by CASE.
Weaponry
The Turkina Prime is configured for long-range combat. Its two LRM launchers are its shortest range weapons, and they can fire out to 21 hexes. Its right arm carries a pair of ER PPCs that can reach 23 hexes, and its left arm’s LB 5-X autocannons have a maximum range of 24 hexes. All of those weapons are firing at their medium ranges at 14 hexes. As a tradeoff for its long-range focus, the autocannons do suffer from a minimum range that reduces the Turkina’s effectiveness at ranges of 3 hexes or shorter.
In addition to long ranges, the three weapon systems also give the Turkina Prime a good mix of damage profiles. The ER PPCs deliver armor piercing 15 point hits, the LRMs cluster into still respectable 5 damage hits, and then the two autocannons can fire cluster ammunition in order to inflict as many as 10 additional single damage hits.
An oddity of the Prime configuration is that its weapons are unbalanced. Rather than one ER PPC and autocannon in each arm, the weapons are paired with both PPCs in the right arm and the autocannons in the left. This gives the ’Mech a lopsided damage profile with more of its firepower on the right side. Both pairs of guns enjoy fairly wide arcs though thanks to being arm mounted and able to flip to the rear, so a MechWarrior should still be able to fire their biggest weapons at a target in any direction.
Both the LRMs and autocannons require ammunition. The Turkina Prime carries two tons of LB 5-X ammo which gives it 10 rounds worth of firing each type of shot. The LRMs are more constrained with only 12 shots each, but that is still enough to last through most engagements.
Heat Management
The Turkina Prime carries 19 double heat sinks, but it still runs hot. Its weapon systems can generate 42 points of heat each turn, and then jumping can contribute another 3 heat. That means a MechWarrior pushing their machine can overheat by 7 points each turn and quickly cripple their Turkina’s performance. In order to manage heat levels, dropping to only one LRM as needed is a good option since the launchers generate enough heat to be meaningful while dealing less damage than the PPCs. That option also helps to preserve its limited number of reloads for the missiles.
Brawling
A MechWarrior in a Turkina Prime should try to stay far outside of melee range. With no lower arms, the Turkina is only able to punch for 5 damage, and those punches are at reduced accuracy. Instead, it should kick for 19 damage if it needs to make physical attacks.
OmniMech Chassis
The Turkina has a lot of pod-space for weapons, but it also is less flexible than it could be as an OmniMech. Its three jump jets are not pod-mounted and so they cannot be removed or swapped for improved versions. It also has 15 of its heat sinks included in its base chassis even though two of them take up valuable critical slots in its side torsos.
| Capacity | 42 tons |
| Head | 1 slot |
| Center Torso | 1 slot |
| Right Torso | 5 slots |
| Left Torso | 5 slots |
| Right Arm | 8-10 slots |
| Left Arm | 8-10 slots |
| Right Leg | 2 slots |
| Left Leg | 2 slots |
As an OmniMech, the Turkina Prime can carry a unit of battle armor. It is only slightly faster than most suits though and should generally stay well beyond the ranges where battle armor generally want to be deployed. A unit can be useful to wait near a Turkina’s perch though in order to deter lighter units that might try to harass the sniper.
Cost & Upkeep
The Turkina is an expensive machine to field. It is a 95-ton Clan OmniMech with an XL engine, so it has a high upfront cost. In addition, it can go through several tons of ammunition in a battle.
When using the Warchest Point system, these are the expected costs for the Turkina Prime:
| Action | Clan Cost | Inner Sphere Cost |
| Purchase | 1,900 SP | 3,800 SP |
| Armor Repair | 95 SP | 190 SP |
| Structure Repair | 190 SP | 380 SP |
| Reload | 40 SP | 80 SP |
| Reconfigure | 24 SP | 48 SP |
Miniature
A plastic miniature of the Turkina Prime is included in the Clan Heavy Battle Star force pack.
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