Hunchback

Is good time to run, cowards!

The HBK-4G Hunchback is a widely respected and deeply feared BattleMech in the BattleTech universe that is well known for it's absolutely fuckoff big gun that sits on it's shoulder.

Overview

The Hunchback was developed in the 2500's as the Urbanmech's scary older brother in tight-quarters and urban combat roles, namely due to the absolutely fucking enormous Autocannon/20 that perches itself upon it's right shoulder. It was originally produced by Komibiya/Nissan General Industries and sold to pretty much anybody who had the C-Bills to pay for one of the meanest possible punches to the gut for their Assault Lances, but eventually the design fell out of favor for most states except the Combine and Confederation, whose preferred styles of warfare made it a popular choice, especially when it's manufacturing rights came under the purview of Kali Yama Weapons Industries.

The Succession Wars unfortunately did quite a number on the Hunchback, as the gigantic gun is in fact a good portion of the 'Mechs weight, and so many variants made during this period pulled that off in order to still field them and get roughly the same kind of performance, but the 'Mech was practically designed around the gun's weight, and so these "Swayback" designs have a reputation for being hard to aim due to the 'Mech having to correct for the lack of weight rather than the other way around. The reintroduction of LosTech saved it, with several unpleasant variants coming out during the Jihad and into the Dark Age which have only made the reputation of this 'Mech even more fearsome.

Armaments

The Hunchback's claim to fame is the Autocannon/20, which can punch tons of armor off a Mech in seconds if given the chance. This is not it's only weapon, but given their other armaments area pair of medium lasers and a small laser, it draws the most attention. While it's an absolute nightmare up close, it's very slow for a Medium Mech, and when left out in the open can be a sitting duck. Further, it's reputation ultimately works against it in both directions: people know the Hunchback is dangerous and so focus down on it to prevent it from blowing up their 'Mechs, and the Mechwarriors who pilot Hunchbacks have to be careful and aware of it's limitations, because while it's 10 tons of armor compare favorably to many Heavy class Mechs...that's about the only thing it shares; a Hunchback is much slower than most Heavy Mechs, has worse heat control, and their ammo stores aren't nearly as well protected, meaning that they're best used in a "2nd Wave" role as the knockout blow to foes who are already dropping armor behind them rather than as vanguard forces.

The many merry Autocannon replacements

Sometimes, preferences in role and raw materials have left many states in BattleTech looking for replacements for that Autocannon, and many variants of the Hunchback exist as a result. However, since the 'Mech is balanced specifically for that fortress hole-puncher, many of these 'Mechs often gain the dubious title of "Swayback" due to their propensity to sway back and forth, even in the heat of combat, due to the 'Mech trying to keep balance against a big heavy gun it no longer has.

• HBK-4J - A complete role reversal from close range uppercut to long range missileboat that replaces the Autocannon with two LRM-10s, three medium lasers, and a heat sink. Most of it's flaws are mitigated by it's newfound fighting range, and the 4J sometimes finds itself on guard duty of fire support lances thanks to it's Lasers.
• HBK-4P - Lasers for days. Instead of an Autocannon, this version of the 'Mech replaces the Autocannon with six medium lasers and a boatload of heatsinks just to be able to handle the insane heatload. Ironically, this is actually the variant of the Hunchback most likely seen on modern battlefields due to a full volley from this laser display case being able to do more damage than the AC/20 it replaced at the cost of becoming an expensive pizza oven if fired too often.
• HBK-5H - The 5H is a periphery mod of the base model that merely replaces the small laser and some of the armor with three rocket launchers. Most of the same problems exist from the base variant, but now it can crack open it's foes instead of just kill them once the heavy hitters come through.
• HBK-5M - The initial Kali Yama produced model. It honestly isn't that great, thanks to weight concerns brought upon by it's upgrade small laser to a small pulse laser and the CASE system add-on, which robbed it of most of it's ammo capacity, effectively turning it into the UrbanMech XL. Understandably, everyone went out of their way to try and fix that immediately.
  • HBK-5N - The FWL's attempt at fixing this was just to scale the small laser back to it's original kind and pulled out the CASE. Seriously, was it that easy to fix? Jesus christ, Kali Yama.
  • HBK-5SG - A prototype that never got off the ground that potentially could've filled a Sniper role: it replaces the Autocannon with a Gauss Rifle, all armor gets replaced with Stealth Armor, and the small laser is replaced with an ECM Suite.
• HBK-6N - Kali Yama's official apology to most of it's clientele. It removes three of the -5M's heatsinks and replaces them with three extra reloads worth of ammo.
• HBK-6S - The long-awaited full upgrade from Kali Yama, this one a hell of a lot better than the -6N. Endo-Steel chassis, 300-rated XL engine that shaves tons off the 'Mech, allowing it to go nearly 90kph at full charge. It bears a hard upgrade on the AC/20, an SRM-6, and an ER Medium Laser, as well as improved heat sinks.
• HBK-IIC - armed with two AC-20’s and jump jets but lacking sufficient armor and ammo, it was believed by Spheroid observers as a last chance BattleMech intended for elderly Clan warriors seeking a final chance for glory. In reality, the Hunchback IIC was actually intended to be a death sentence and a suicide Mech assigned to elderly warriors and disgraced Mechwarriors by their commanders. After a star of disgraced Smoke Jaguars managed to show the design’s lethality by destroying the better part of a Jade Falcon unit that was six times their size, Clan sibcadets and elderly began seeing it as an “all-or-nothing” design that can unleash a full blast of firepower on unsuspecting targets.