Mirroring the original GUN-1ERD’s origins as a joint project between the Draconis Combine and Federated Commonwealth, the GUN-3ERD was being developed through cooperation of the Lyran Commonwealth, Draconis Combine, and Republic of the Sphere. Unfortunately, the blackout brought an end to the period of peace in the Inner Sphere and disrupted the project.
After hostilities broke out, both the Lyran Commonwealth and Draconis Combine continued to pursue and manufacture the GUN-3ERD, but they were forced to substitute some components or turn to other providers. Outside of those two nations, only mercenaries, including the Kell Hounds, have started making use of the new Gunslinger.
Read This First
- Your jump jets aren’t good for evasive maneuvering, but they can help you get to a good firing position or avoid walking over dangerous terrain
- Use your gauss rifles to soften targets at range, but your medium lasers nearly double your firepower once they are in range
- You’re at your best facing off against designs that focus on ballistic or missile weapons, so encourage your allies to keep enemies with a lot of energy weapons distracted
Gunslinger GUN-3ERD
- Role: Juggernaut
- Tech Base: Inner Sphere Mixed (3131)
- Chassis: 85 tons
- Movement: 3 / 5, Clan XL
- Jumping: 2
- Armor: 246 (Ballistic Reinforced)
- Gyroscope: XL Gyro
- Heat Sinks: 10 (20)
- Weapons:
- Gauss Rifle × 2 (ammo: 32)
- Clan ER Medium Laser × 4
- Small X-Pulse Laser × 3
- Equipment:
- CASE II
- Design Quirks:
- Cowl
- Cost: 17,940,375 C-Bills
- Battle Value: 2,844
Mobility
Overall, the Gunslinger GUN-3ERD has average mobility for a ’Mech of its size. It can walk with 3 MP or run with 5 MP. While it can hit a +2 target movement modifier in clear terrain while running, in actual use it will generally only be getting a +1 modifier. That makes parking in woods or partial cover to act as a sniper just as good defensively as evasive movement. It does have the ability to jump 2 hexes, but that is more for maneuvering in dense terrain than for actual evasive benefits since a 2 hex jump will still only result in a +1 target movement modifier.
Durability
Defensively, the GUN-3ERD is a mixed bag. Its ballistic-reinforced armor is hard to breach, but some of its systems are particularly vulnerable once it starts to take internal damage. The design carries 94% of the maximum armor that it could and that armor is twice as durable as normal armor against ballistic or missile weapons. that means that in a favorable matchup. the GUN-3ERD can effectively have almost twice the armor protection as most ’Mechs of its tonnage. Once damage does break through the armor though, the Gunslinger has some vulnerabilities. It has both an XL engine and XL gyro meaning that both of those core pieces of equipment are more likely to take critical hits. The design does make use of a Clan XL engine though, so it can survive the loss of a side torso. Its main weapons also come with another vulnerability. Each arm has 70% of its critical slots filled with explosive components. While CASE II will ensure the arm survives, a MechWarrior will still be subject to neuro-feedback damage from such a blast.
Weaponry
The GUN-3ERD retains the primary armament of previous Gunslinger variants with two gauss rifles. Those give it the ability to fire two powerful 15-damage shots out to 22 hexes. Then at 15 hexes, the secondary weapons, a quartet of Clan ER medium lasers, nearly double its potential damage output.
The Gunslinger’s gauss rifles are arm-mounted, so it enjoys a wide firing arc with its biggest weapons. Its assortment of lasers are more restricted. The ER medium lasers and one pulse laser can only fire into its forward arc. The other two pulse lasers are rear-mounted to cover its back, but as leg-mounted weapons they cannot benefit from torso-twists or through a hex that would give the Gunslinger partial cover.
The GUN-3ERD carries 16 shots for each gauss rifle. In general, that will be enough that its MechWarrior doesn’t need to worry about preserving ammunition for a single engagement.
Heat Management
In a long-range fight, the Gunslinger GUN-3ERD runs very cool thanks to the low heat buildup from gauss rifles. When it is within range to make use of its ER medium lasers though, it can start to build up heat. Firing those four lasers generates 20 heat which is everything that the design’s 10 double heat sinks can dissipate. Firing the gauss rifles and movement on top of that will cause the Gunslinger to gradually warm up, but holding fire with a couple of lasers for a turn can allow it to quickly cool back off. The small pulse lasers can generate even more heat, but they only come into play at short ranges or if the Gunslinger is ambushed from behind.
Brawling
The Gunslinger isn’t designed for brawling, but it can still throw its weight around as an assault ’Mech. Punching prevents it from being able to fire its gauss rifles, but when a target is within arm’s reach it is also well within the minimum range for those guns. The punches suffer reduced accuracy due to the Gunslinger not having hands, but still deal 9 damage each. The GUN-3ERD can alternatively kick for 17 damage.
Cost & Upkeep
Despite incorporating numerous Clan-spec components, the GUN-3ERD’s C-Bill cost is only about 7% higher than the original CUN-1ERD. Operating it does require a steady supply of gauss rifle ammunition.
When using the Warchest Point system, these are the expected costs for the Gunslinger GUN-3ERD:
| Action | Cost |
| Purchase | 1,700 SP |
| Armor Repair | 85 SP |
| Structure Repair | 170 SP |
| Reload | 20-40 SP |
Miniature
A plastic miniature that matches the GUN-1ERD and GUN-3ERD is available in the Northwind Highlanders Command Lance pack.
Scott's Game Room 
One reply on “’Mech Manual: Gunslinger GUN-3ERD”
While this design follows a typical Clan phenotype of high firepower and high ammo dependence, a particular advantage which was not mentioned in the article is that it has both slow heat buildup and no susceptibility to ammo cook-off, as Gauss ammo does not explode from overheating, since it has no chemical propellant. This enables an experienced pilot to alpha-strike repeatedly against an opponent, hoping to either breach armor and gain critical hits, or deal heavy damage and force a poor or unlucky pilot to fall, in either case giving the Gunslinger pilot the advantage.
Personally this is not a design I favor; it is inherently ammo-dependent to be effective, and its mobility profile is congruent to the Shadow Hawk, having jump jets but without any call to use them except as a [i]faute de mieux, [/i] where on an assault ‘Mech that weight might be better assigned to an anti-missile system or A-pods or B-pods to improve its defensive capabilities and empower it to focus on a single target as it was designed to do.