MILITARY TERMS
The Inner Sphere and Clan militaries both use BattleMechs, DropShips, JumpShips and other similar weapons and equipment, but the Clans are superior from a technological standpoint. Clan warriors live by the Way of the Clans, a code of honor that affects even their style of combat. The Inner Sphere has never been able to defeat the Clans' superior technology. Their victories have onlycome through strategies that turned the tables on the code by which Clan warriors live and fight.
AUTOCANNON
An autocannon is a rapid-firing, auto-loading weapon that fires high-speed streams of high-explosive, armor-piercing shells. Light autocannon range from 30 to 90mm caliber, and heavy autocannon may be 80 to 120mm or more.
BATTLEMECH
BattleMechs are the most powerful war machines ever built. First developed by Terran scientists and engineers, these huge, man-shaped vehicles are faster, more mobile, better-armored, and more heavily armed than any twentieth-century tank. Ten to twelve meters tall and equipped with particle projection cannons, lasers, rapid-fire autocannon, and missiles, they pack enough firepower to flatten anything but another BattleMech. A small fusion reactor provides virtually unlimited power, and BattleMechs can be adapted to fight in environments ranging from sun-baked deserts to sub-zero arctic icefields.
BATTALION
A battalion is an Inner Sphere military unit usually consisting of three companies.
CLAN MILITARY
Clan military organization, strategy, and tactics differ radically from those of the Inner Sphere. The basic element of the Clan military is called a Point, consisting of a 'Mech, or two aerospace fighters, or five infantrymen. Five Points constitute a Star. Groups of Stars are called Clusters.
Point 1 'Mech or 5 infantry Elementals
Star 5 'Mechs or 25 Elementals
Binary 2 Stars
Trinary 3 Stars
Cluster 4 Binaries
Galaxy 3-5 Clusters
Nova 1 'Mech Star and 1 infantry Star
Supernova 1 'Mech Binary and 2 infantry Stars
COMPANY
A company is an Inner Sphere military unit consisting of three BattleMech lances or, for infantry, three platoons with a total of 50 to 100 men. Companies are generally commanded by a captain.
ELEMENTALS
Elementals are the elite, battle-armored infantry of the Clans. These men and women are giants, bred specifically to handle Clan-developed battle armor.
JUMPSHIPS AND DROPSHIPS
JumpShip
Interstellar travel is accomplished via JumpShips, first developed in the twenty-second century. These somewhat ungainly vessels consist of a long, thin drive core and a sail resembling an enormous parasol, which can extend up to a kilometer in width. The ship is named for its ability to "jump" instantaneously across vast distances—up to thirty light years per jump. Before it can make another jump, however, the ship must recharge its interstellar drives by gathering up more solar energy. This process can take up to a week.
The JumpShip's enormous sail is constructed from a special metal that absorbs vast quantities of electromagnetic energy from the nearest star. When it has soaked up enough energy, the sail transfers it to the drive core, which converts it into a space-twisting field. An instant later, the ship arrives at the next jump point, a distance of up to thirty light years. This field, generated by the Kearny-Fuchida hyperdrive, is known as hyperspace, and its discovery opened to mankind the gateway to the stars.
JumpShips never land on planets, and only rarely travel to the inner areas of a star system. Interplanetary travel is carried out by DropShips, vessels that are attached to the JumpShip until arrival at the jump point. Jump points are the locations within a star system where the system's gravity is next to nothing, the prime prerequisite for the operation of the Kearny-Fuchida drive. Every star has two principal jump points, one at the zenith point at the star's north pole, and one at the nadir point at the star's south pole.
DropShip
Because interstellar JumpShips must avoid entering the heart of a solar system, they must "dock" in space at a considerable distance from a system's inhabited worlds. DropShips were developed for interplanetary travel. As the name implies, a DropShip is attached to hardpoints on the JumpShip's drive core, later to be dropped from the parent vessel after insystem entry. Though incapable of FTL travel, DropShips are highly maneuverable, well-armed, and sufficiently aerodynamic to take off from and land on a planetary surface. The journey from the jump point to the inhabited worlds of a system usually requires a normal-space journey of several days or weeks, depending on the type of star.
LANCE
A lance is an Inner Sphere BattleMech combat group, usually consisting of four BattleMechs.
LASER
Laser is an acronym for "Light Amplification through Stimulated Emission of Radiation." When used as a weapon, the laser damages the target by concentrating extreme heat on a small area. BattleMech lasers are designated as small, medium, and large. Lasers are also available as shoulder-fired weapons operating from a portable backpack power unit. Certain range finders and targeting equipment also employ low-level lasers.
LRM
This is an abbreviation for long-range missile, an indirect-fire missile with a high-explosive warhead.
OMNIMECH
The Clans' military success against the Inner Sphere is mainly due to the OmniMech. Based on advanced Star League technology that the Star League Defense Forces took with them when they left the Inner Sphere, Clan scientists developed the OmniMech, a BattleMech whose modular weapons systems could be easily reconfigured to suit any mission. This innovation gave the Clans tremendous flexibility on the battlefield. Coupled with their vastly more efficient cooling and sensor systems and destructive firepower, the OmniMech made the Clans virtually invincible. Since encountering the OmniMech, Inner Sphere scientists have tried to incorporate Clan technology into Inner Sphere 'Mech designs.
PLATOON
A platoon is an Inner Sphere military unit typically consisting of approximately twenty-eight men, commanded by a lieutenant or a platoon sergeant. A platoon may be divided into two sections.
PPC
This abbreviation stands for particle projection cannon, a magnetic accelerator firing high-energy proton or ion bolts, causing damage through both impact and high temperature. PPCs are among the most effective weapons available to BattleMechs.
REGIMENT
A regiment is an Inner Sphere military unit consisting of two to four battalions, each consisting of three or four companies. A regiment is commanded by a colonel.
SRM
This abbreviation stands for short-range missiles, direct-trajectory missiles with high-explosive or armor-piercing explosive warheads. They have a range of less than 1 kilometer, and are accurate only at ranges of less than 300 meters. They are more powerful, however, than LRMs.