of the Irish Dragoons
   
|
 |
   
|
 
|
The Omega and The Konigstiger Project |
 |
| The Omega
|
|
The SHP-4X Omega was the first BattleMech weighing over 100 tons to be released by Iron Winds Metals. It was a massive miniature with more parts tahn any other released by I.W.M. It was so complex that it needed to have assembly instructions and a Control Sheet included (which was a first for I.W.M.) |
  |
Assembling the miniature proved to be quite a challenge. Once the construction was complete, the painting turned out to be equally tricky. However, once the machine was fully decked out in what would become the 24th Welsh Regiment's colors and insignia, it wound up looking great. It was well worth the effort.  |
The Konigstiger Project |
I had just finished the Omega when I got a Simba from the C.A.V. line of minatures and it looked like it might be a good companion for the Omega. I traded another mini and some spare parts for one from another player. When the Simba arrived it was as large as I had hoped but appeared to be woefully under gunned. So I went to my spare parts box and came up with three different possible weapons configurations: |
 |
   |
|
Now, on with the story . . . The engineers at Novelty Iron Works had been reviewing the research materials concerning BattleMechs that exceeded 100 tons. They had come to the conclusion that the time was close for a breakthrough in this technology. They began making preliminary plans and projections and decided that a quad layout was the best approach for the stability inherent in the design. They began looking at the 100 ton Xanthos as a starting point. They didn't like the slab-sided layout (too much target area) and settled on rotating that style of fuselage into a flat, horizontal design.  As they got down to serious work the Omega made its appearance on the Battlemech scene. Work on the new N.I.W. design came to a halt until the Irish Dragoons were able to obtain an Omega to study. The resulting information gained from the study of the Omega greatly speeded up the design process despite the dissimilarity in concepts. Although they kept the flat fuselage, quad layout, they copied the three gauss rifle design with one in the center torso and one in each of the new saddlebag weapons pods. Each pod also houses a medium laser. The saddlebags were designed to house weapons while maintaining a small, horizontal profile. While the gauss rifle in the center torso is protected from catastrophic failure by CASE, the saddlebag pods are attached on each side of the fuselage with explosive bolts. When sensors in the pods detect a catastrophic failure in their gauss rifle, they blow the pods free of the 'Mech, thus protecting the 'Mech from damage of exploding rifles. As additional protection for the major hip joints, hydraulically activated, heavily armored fenders can be lowered to cover the joints. They can be raised for increased maneuverability while the 'Mech is walking or running. They added a very low profile turret mounting a PPC and three medium lasers. Since the turret has a 360 degree traverse, 'MechWarriors piloting the new machines have no fear of enemy units "sneaking up behind" the 'Mech. When it came to naming the new 'Mech, they briefly toyed with calling it the Alpha. The suggestion failed because the Omega was really the first Super Heavy 'Mech and there were objections from the chaplain. After several suggestions were submitted and rejected, one technician with a strong interest in Terrain history suggested Konigstiger (German for Bengal Tiger, Allied translation King Tiger) after the WWII German Tiger II panzer. The name was an instant success. |
   |
Demonstrating the turret treverse:
|
   |
The Omega and the Konigstiger:
|
  |