TME-41 Melissa Steiner Main Battle Tank

STATISTICS

OVERVIEW

    The TME-41 Melissa Steiner MBT is a direct rip-off of the Warhammer 40,000 Space/Time Sphere Imperial Leman Russ Battle Tank.  Noting the effectiveness of the iron-sided behemoth, TME designers decided to transplant it into the BattleTech S/TS.  Heavy, slow, and big, both tanks mount heavy weapons in multiple hardpoints.  Mounting a primary turret, forward sponson and side sponson, the TME-41 can lay deadly fire in many directions at once.

CAPABILITIES

    The Melissa Steiner mounts a rapid-fire heavy autocannon and light Thunderbolt missile launcher in its massive, blocky turret.   Chunky sponson on the side hold advanced light autocannons and the foreward hull sponson emplacement carries a large laser.  A coaxial gyrojet machine gun in the main turret rounds out the TME-41's firepower.  An ammunition-hungry beast; it carries 12 Thunderbolt missiles; 6,600 machine gun rounds; 200 light autocannon rounds; and 300 heavy autocannon rounds.  To protect the crew in case of ammunition explosion the Steiner uses second-generation Cellular Ammunition Storage Equipment.

    The TME-41 is also an extremely well-armored beast.   Its thick hide can shrug off even the heavy particle projector cannons and rapid-fire autocannon carried by BattleMechs.  This heavy armor does make the Steiner a slow tank, although slower have been built.

DEPLOYMENT

    Originally named the Katrina Steiner, the name was changed in 3062 to reflect TME's lack of support for the Archon's unwarranted power-grab.

    Six cramped crewmen operate the Melissa Steiner, and, despite the Steiner's limited space, they are capable crews and extremely proud of their vehicles.  TME-41s grace various armored divisions, especially Lyran-affiliated ones.   Naming this tank after the late, great Archon of the Lyran Commonwealth has improved TME's already cordial relations with House Steiner but has made no friends in the Capellan Confederation or the Federated Commonwealth.  However, changing the TME-41 to the TME-41/a "Chancellor Tzu" or the TME-41/b "Hanse Davion" quickly alleviated the problem even though the /a and /b models are identical to the Steiner.

VARIANTS

    Due to the limited availiability of Thunderbolt missiles (or by the preference by the customer), the Thunderbolt launcher can be easily removed to add more room for the crew or ammunition.  The TME-41-A is sold without the Thunderbolt launcher.  The TME-41-B replaces the Thunderbolt launcher with a medium-range missile twenty-rack with 24 salvos.  The TME-41-C replaces the launcher with a short-range missile six-rack with 15 salvos.

    DESIGNER'S NOTE:    Yeah, it's a Leman Russ, copyrighted by Games Workshop and all.  JPG picture is from the instructions on how to build the model.  Stats are mine.  Sweet, eh?

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