[swordtart]

Sui-Shiruken by Swordtart:
Luxury; Light chassis; Light suspension;
Large PP with HTMs with 10 pt CA;
4 Hvy Duty Radial tires.
Driver with 10pt CA.
1 Space Rocket Magazine with 3 x AP Mini Rocket and 5 pt CA (Front),
15 x AP Mini Rocket (Front),
2spc Forward Facing REWP with 6 x AP Mini Rocket (Right),
2spc Forward Facing REWP with 6 x AP Mini Rocket (Left),
Link (All Rockets + Ejection Seat + Boosters);
Ejection Seat;
Bumper Trigger linked to (All Rockets + Ejection Seat + Boosters),
Rocket boosters (30lb) +5 accel.
9 pts. Sloped LR Metal and 30 pts. Sloped Plastic
(F: 9/9 R: 0/7 L: 0/7 B: 0/5 T: 0/1 U: 0/1);
Cargo 3 lb
Cost: $9,745, Wgt: 4,947,
HC: 2, Top Speed: 92.5 (67.5), Accel: 5 (10)

A close attack platform the Sui-Shiruken needs to get within 20 yards undetected. When close enough it fires 2 single ranging shots from its rocket magazine. The final shot from the magazine is linked to all the other rockets for a devastating 29 rocket barrage. The driver usually ejects shortly after the simultaneous ignition of the rocket boosters allowing the empty vehicle to act as an un-guided missile.

As a last resort the rockets and boosters are also tied into front bumper switches in case the driver is killed or ejects early.

Whilst being attacked by one of these is likely to be an unpleasant experience, you can take comfort that at least another Shiruken is being removed from the gene pool.


Whilst probably lethal, all those rockets are certainly a distraction. Lots of sloped metal backed up with plastic on the front provide high front aspect survivability against even 3D+ weapons. Any damage penetrating the front is likely to only remove a single rocket. The magazine rockets have extra protection as loosing the sustained fire bonus would be sub-optimal. The plant is next in line and also has CA. If the plant is destroyed the rockets can still be fired (fire is a risk that must be tolerated). With rocket boosters (triggered independently) the vehicle may still be able to maintain speed. Even if damage gets through all that the driver has yet more CA so should still survive to trigger the rockets on command.

The all other arcs are vulnerable which is why this vehicle needs to engage on a vector of it's choosing (usually sweeping in from a side road). The timing is fairly critical and so the vehicle will try to match speeds if possible and turn in so that it can target the rear arc to minimise targeting penalties due to relative speed.

Assuming all the ranging rockets get off, on average half the rockets will hit averaging 50 points damage, this would prove decisive against the majority of conventional road vehicles (even some rigs don't mount that much). If the ram happens then you could double that.

If the intent is to hunt foes with light metal armour you might prefer to use non-AP rockets and save some cash. You would almost certainly be better off waiting for an easier target. You could replace the mini-rockets with other single shot rockets, but you would need to adjust the weight and revise the REWP. The rocket magazine makes less sense with larger rockets as it becomes an increasing proportion of your payload spent on ranging shots. For example for an HR version you could loose the magazine and instead have 6 HR front and another in a top REWP. This leaves 90lb for cargo (or more armour).

As this is a sacrificial vehicle you could fit a damaged plant (with only 5 DPs) and save $1800. You could also use jury-rigged rockets (at whatever they would cost).