The Fire Falcon was introduced by Clan Jade Falcon in the early 3050s. It shared a weight class and role with the older Mist Lynx, and compared to it, the Fire Falcon had a higher ground speed, could carry more weapons, and mounted more armor. Happy with the performance of the Fire Falcon, the Jade Falcons gradually phased out the older Mist Lynxes in favor of their new design.
While the Fire Falcon was first manufactured on Ironhold in the Clan Homeworlds, it is notable for being used as a test for OmniMech manufacturing in the Inner Sphere. That test on Sudeten was successful, and soon Clan Jade Falcon added other OmniMech lines to the Olivetti Weapons production facility.
The Fire Falcon spread to other Clans during the latter part of the Clan Invasion era and then proliferated through the Jihad and Wars of Reaving. After those destructive conflicts, it reverted to only being present amongst the forces of Clan Jade Falcon again during the late Republic eras. Following the ilClan trial on Terra, Wolf’s Dragoons has also notably fielded Fire Falcons that they had claimed as salvage.
Read This First
- Use your speed to control the range of the engagement and make yourself a difficult target
- Be careful about getting into rough terrain, you don’t have jump jets and slowing down can make you an easy target
- While you can overheat, feel free to fire everything other than your small lasers at most ranges, then hold back if the Streaks fire in order to cool back off
Fire Falcon Prime
- Role: Striker
- Tech Base: Clan (3052)
- Chassis: 25 tons (Endo Steel)
- Movement: 8 / 12, XL
- Armor: 76 (Ferro Fibrous)
- Heat Sinks: 10 (20)
- Weapons:
- Medium Pulse Laser
- ER Medium Laser × 2
- Streak SRM 4 × 2 (ammo: 25)
- ER Small Laser × 2
- Equipment:
- CASE
- Design Quirks:
- Improved Sensors
- Cost: 4,706,771 C-Bills
- Battle Value: 1,451
Mobility
The Fire Falcon is fast. Its 8 walking MP and 12 running MP match fast scout designs like the Locust. In addition to meaning that it can chase down almost any target, that speed can allow it to achieve a +4 target movement modifier and become a very difficult target to hit.
The tradeoff for that speed is that the Fire Falcon Prime does not mount any jump jets. Without those, it can easily be slowed down by rough terrain. That can also make it much more vulnerable to enemy fire since it will not be able to maintain the same target movement modifier that it can in open terrain.
Durability
The Fire Falcon has about average durability for a ’Mech of its tonnage. It mounts 85% of the maximum armor for its chassis. Its Clan XL engine means that it can survive the loss of a side torso even if such a loss results in high heat and the loss of significant amounts of firepower. The only location on the Prime configuration with explosive components is the left torso where 20% of the critical slots are filled with Streak SRM 4 ammo. That location does have CASE though, so an explosion will only result in the loss of the side torso location.
Weaponry
The Fire Falcon Prime mounts a lot of weapons. It has two ER medium lasers, a medium pulse laser, two Streak SRM 4 launchers, and two ER small lasers. While none of those are long-range weapons, the ER medium lasers give it a respectable range of 15 hexes.
All of the Prime configuration’s lasers are arm-mounted to give it a wide firing arc. Those lasers are mostly on the right side, but a torso twist or an arm flip can let a MechWarrior fire in any direction. The Streak SRMs are torso mounted and so restricted to only the Fire Falcon’s front arc.
The single ton of ammunition for its Streak SRM 4 launchers give the Fire Falcon Prime more than enough to last through a battle. Each launcher can fire a dozen times and thanks to the Streak technology, they will not waste any missiles on missed shots.
Heat Management
The Fire Falcon Prime runs slightly hot, but only at short range. It has 10 double heat sinks, but it can produce 26 heat in a turn between weapons and running. Its two ER small lasers account for 4 of that heat, and the Streak launchers only generate their 3 heat each when they actually score a hit. That means in practice, a MechWarrior can fire everything other than the small lasers and only occasionally overheat by a point or two when both Streak launchers lock and hit. At very short ranges, the two small lasers can be fired in place of one of the ER medium lasers since once a target is easy to hit, the pair combines to more damage than a single medium.
Brawling
As a light ’Mech without lower arms, the Fire Falcon should avoid getting into a brawl. Its punches are inaccurate and can only deal 2 points of damage, so firing the arm-mounted lasers will always be a better choice. It can kick for 5 damage, but even that is barely worth the risk of having a chance to fall over.
OmniMech Chassis
The Fire Falcon has an impressive amount of pod space available for weaponry for a ’Mech of its tonnage. Its chassis also doesn’t have any fixed equipment that restrict the extent it can be customized for missions.
| Capacity | 10 tons |
| Head | 1 slot |
| Center Torso | 2 slots |
| Right Torso | 6 slots |
| Left Torso | 6 slots |
| Right Arm | 5-7 slots |
| Left Arm | 2-4 slots |
| Right Leg | none |
| Left Leg | none |
Thanks to its speed, the Fire Falcon Prime can be a good choice for transporting a unit of battle armor. It loses the ability to fire its Streak SRMs while the battle armor are mounted, but it retains the ability to fire all of its lasers.
Other Capabilities
The Improved Sensors quirk allows the Fire Falcon to act as if it was equipped with an active probe. This gives it the ability to locate hidden units before walking into an ambush, and if optional rules are being used, can reduce the impact of woods on its targeting.
Cost & Upkeep
The Fire Falcon is built with expensive Clan components that push up its purchase price. It is still only a 25 ton ’Mech though, so its absolute price is not that high even if it is higher than less advanced lights. The Prime configuration is also relatively efficient with its ammunition and should only need to replace its ton of Streak SRM 4 ammo after a couple of engagements.
When using the Warchest Point system, these are the expected costs for the Fire Falcon Prime:
| Action | Clan Cost | Inner Sphere Cost |
| Purchase | 500 SP | 1,000 SP |
| Armor Repair | 25 SP | 50 SP |
| Structure Repair | 50 SP | 100 SP |
| Reload | 0-10 SP | 0-20 SP |
| Reconfigure | 7 SP | 13 SP |
Miniature
The Clan Ad Hoc Star force pack includes a plastic Fire Falcon Prime.
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