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Description
The Billotte represents a strange chapter in Lyran armor development. Not named after a Teutonic Hero, the Billotte actually takes it's name from a French Tank Commander in WWII famed for having wiped out an entire company of German Panzers single handedly from the controls of a Char B1-bis. The design was started in the mid 3060s and it's thought that the name may be from the Archon-Princess herself, as a way to honor the heritage of her father, Hanse Davion.

In the last year of the FedCom Civil War designs like this languished on the drawing board but then the sudden fury and onslaught of the Jihad caused even half ready designs to be fast tracked to provide material to face this new threat. And so by late 3068 the first Billottes would enter production.

With the atrocities of the Word of Blake happening all around emphasis was placed on survivability. While not terribly fast, the new tank carried 17 tons of the Heavy Ferro Fibrous Armor, allowing it to absorb stupendous levels of damage. Supplementing this is a CASE II system, allowing the crew to survive ammo cook offs, etc. And a last minute addition, taking the place of the planned tertiary armament was a completely Environmentally Sealed Hull, specifically to counter the nuclear and biological weapons the Blakists were so willing to unleash.

All this leaves it slightly undergunned offensively. Mounted directly to the hull in a sponson mount is a massive Heavy Gauss Rifle. The recoil was too intense to be reliable in the turret, but the brass were adamant on it's inclusion, as a source of Lyran pride and power. Backing that, in the turret is a Donal PPC and a 20mm Gatling Machine Gun. Because of the issues with minimum range and often close quarters battle encountered throughout the Jihad, it was not uncommon for individual commanders to replace the PPC with a Large Pulse Laser.

By 3069 a secondary model, would be produced. This would do a complete weapons swap, with the sponson mount being switched to a Defiance Disintegrator 203mm LB-X AC. In the turret was a new Snub Nosed PPC paired with a Small Pulse Laser. Adding to it's capabilities is a turret mounted TAG designator, allowing it to bring friendly homing missiles in for support. And to better protect it from the WoB infantry forces it carries a Bloodhound Active Probe. This model would quickly become the favored version among crews throughout the Jihad.

Post Jihad, like many designs, it simply...existed. Some upgrades and SLEPs would happen but it being so slow and heavy, it's use outside of active planetary assaults/defense was limited. The the Dark Age began and all weapons of war were once again highly desirable. And the came the Jade Falcon Descant and the need to update the design and to produce as much war material as possible led to the refurbishing of the line and the new, now 90 ton Billotte 2 coming off the lines by 3145.

Initially designed thinking the needs of the Jihad to prepare for WMDs was a thing of the past, the Billotte 2 removed the EHS and instead focused on traditional combat survivability. While the Engine was updated to a more fragile XL, the armor was swapped for 20 tons of Hardened Armor, and it's tracks were also hardened, using an Armored Motive System. The PPC would be traded for the far nastier Plasma Rifle and a 20 rd magazine. While near impossible to knock out in combat, the recent actions of Malvina Hazen has left many wondering if abandoning the environmental sealing was a premature choice, and as such the original line has also been restarted and as of 3149, one Billotte is being produced for every two Billotte 2.

*yeah not minmaxed. Was watching WWII YouTube docs, was impressed by the exploits of Cpt Pierre Billotte and his B1-bis. So felt like making a Battletech version of his tank.

Description
The Billotte represents a strange chapter in Lyran armor development. Not named after a Teutonic Hero, the Billotte actually takes it's name from a French Tank Commander in WWII famed for having wiped out an entire company of German Panzers single handedly from the controls of a Char B1-bis. The design was started in the mid 3060s and it's thought that the name may be from the Archon-Princess herself, as a way to honor the heritage of her father, Hanse Davion.

In the last year of the FedCom Civil War designs like this languished on the drawing board but then the sudden fury and onslaught of the Jihad caused even half ready designs to be fast tracked to provide material to face this new threat. And so by late 3068 the first Billottes would enter production.

With the atrocities of the Word of Blake happening all around emphasis was placed on survivability. While not terribly fast, the new tank carried 17 tons of the Heavy Ferro Fibrous Armor, allowing it to absorb stupendous levels of damage. Supplementing this is a CASE II system, allowing the crew to survive ammo cook offs, etc. And a last minute addition, taking the place of the planned tertiary armament was a completely Environmentally Sealed Hull, specifically to counter the nuclear and biological weapons the Blakists were so willing to unleash.

All this leaves it slightly undergunned offensively. Mounted directly to the hull in a sponson mount is a massive Heavy Gauss Rifle. The recoil was too intense to be reliable in the turret, but the brass were adamant on it's inclusion, as a source of Lyran pride and power. Backing that, in the turret is a Donal PPC and a 20mm Gatling Machine Gun. Because of the issues with minimum range and often close quarters battle encountered throughout the Jihad, it was not uncommon for individual commanders to replace the PPC with a Large Pulse Laser.

By 3069 a secondary model, would be produced. This would do a complete weapons swap, with the sponson mount being switched to a Defiance Disintegrator 203mm LB-X AC. In the turret was a new Snub Nosed PPC paired with a Small Pulse Laser. Adding to it's capabilities is a turret mounted TAG designator, allowing it to bring friendly homing missiles in for support. And to better protect it from the WoB infantry forces it carries a Bloodhound Active Probe. This model would quickly become the favored version among crews throughout the Jihad.

Post Jihad, like many designs, it simply...existed. Some upgrades and SLEPs would happen but it being so slow and heavy, it's use outside of active planetary assaults/defense was limited. The the Dark Age began and all weapons of war were once again highly desirable. And the came the Jade Falcon Descant and the need to update the design and to produce as much war material as possible led to the refurbishing of the line and the new, now 90 ton Billotte 2 coming off the lines by 3145.

Initially designed thinking the needs of the Jihad to prepare for WMDs was a thing of the past, the Billotte 2 removed the EHS and instead focused on traditional combat survivability. While the Engine was updated to a more fragile XL, the armor was swapped for 20 tons of Hardened Armor, and it's tracks were also hardened, using an Armored Motive System. The PPC would be traded for the far nastier Plasma Rifle and a 20 rd magazine. While near impossible to knock out in combat, the recent actions of Malvina Hazen has left many wondering if abandoning the environmental sealing was a premature choice, and as such the original line has also been restarted and as of 3149, one Billotte is being produced for every two Billotte 2.

*yeah not minmaxed. Was watching WWII YouTube docs, was impressed by the exploits of Cpt Pierre Billotte and his B1-bis. So felt like making a Battletech version of his tank.