Underneath the Hood: Special Edition the X13b

So as many of you have seen, one of my more recent creations is the X13b-Grand Naga (Seen Here). I've finally taken one apart and took some shots of the barebones frame so that all you wonderful MFZ fanatics out there can try your hand at building one of your own (or your own kickass variant). So here ya go! If you do something with this, please let me know. I'd love to see it!

Structure of the Serpent

The XF-13b Grand Naga is a deadly foe in close-
quarters and urban environments.

The Hierarchy of the Serpent Legion
The Legion is not your typical UMFL division for a number of reasons. The largest reason being that it technically has no ties to the UMFL whatsoever. As it is privately funded, the Serpent Legion is the known galaxy's largest PMC. Who funds such a high-tech, elite army? No one knows his real name, but he is known as the King Cobra.

The King controls the Legion from the shadows, issuing orders to his three Division Generals who are in command of Python, Viper, and Rattler Divisions. Each division is in command of roughly 750 mobile frames, 6,000 infantry troops, and 150 armored vehicles, although generally most of those forces are stationed within the Sol system. Much smaller numbers have been deployed to the colonies. In fact, there are only about 500 known Serpent Legion frames outside of Sol.

Most needs of the Union are met in the colonies by the UMFL. In the rarer cases when the UMFL is not suited to deal with the task at hand, an appropriate number of Serpent Legion personnel and assets are requisitioned to achieve results. As one would imagine, forces like these do not come cheap. It is commonplace for the Serpent Legion to set up a forward production facility on planets where lengthy operations are to take place. The Legion prefers to construct a majority of their assets onsite to avoid the costs of transport. Experimental and Prototype frames (like the Grand Naga, pictured above) are psychically sent through the gates to avoid the potential threat of their schematics being stolen by resistance members.

Even if someone other than the UMFL could afford their prices, it's very unlikely an agreement would be made. The King Cobra keeps himself and his organization closely allied with the UMFL as much politically as militarily. The Serpent is devout in it's desire to eliminate the terrorist threat of the Federation and the similar minded Free Colony Resistance Cells. Very little else is known about the going-ons within the organization and it is widely suspected that there are a number of shady deals being done by the King Cobra behind closed doors. But since no one knows who he is, it makes it hard to do anything about it.

----------------------------------

With all-terrain wheels and a light composite construction,
The XF-13b Grand Naga is much more agile that it's
size would suggest.

During initial operations on Orion 6, the Legion suffered higher than expected losses within the urban city centers where the colonists had not only better knowledge of the area, but were able to blend into the civilian population as well. Serpent pilots were being lost in quick, close-quarters engagements which needed to be addressed due to the expense (in time and money) of training each cadet. No expense was spared to create a mobile frame that would bring survival rates back into acceptable levels. The result was the XF-13b Grand Naga.

A handful of these advanced frames are currently being used by the Black Adders, a company within Viper Division led by Sgt. Uri Reed, a three year veteran with the Serpent Legion.

Stats:

High Capacity Tactical Shotgun: 2d6Rd

Molecular Blade: 2d6Rh

Composite Armor Plating: 1d6B

All-Terrain Wheeled Drive System (ATWD): 1d6G

Secret Weapons of the Serpent Legion

"You know what the best part of being part of the Serpent Legion is? You get to use all the cool new toys." - Specialist Jacob Hines, Diamondback Platoon


Aside from modifying existing mobile frames in production, the Legion also has it's own mobile frame R&D division with a state of the art research facility on the Jovian moon of Poseidon. These "skunk works" produce and develop new weapons, defensive technologies, mobile frames, and pretty much anything else that can help the Serpent Legion get the edge.

Pictured right is one of their most recent prototypes, the XF-13 Sand Naga. The Legion had found a need for a highly mobile artillery platform since their arrival on Orion 6. Equipped with a HE railgun and a superior drive system, the Sand Naga can get into advantageous positions quickly and dish out the punishment once it gets there.

Resistance reports also indicate there is a stealth frame in use by the Legion. No photos of the frame have been captured and the engagements with the frame have been at extreme range with no visual contact. Is it thought that these frames may be equipped with some form of optical camouflage. Luckily, there have only been a small handful of encounters with this frame, which means it is likely present in very small numbers.

MFZ Stats as pictured: 2d6+d8Ra, 1d6B, 1d6G, 2x SSR

Weapons of the Resistance

A little frame design to get you through the weekend:

When members of the Trident want to rain death from afar, they get behind the muscle cylinders of one of these bad boys. Many a chub have fallen to it's long range cannons and it's heavy armor plating have made it a very difficult asset to remove from the situation.

Then when you want to get up close a personal, you hop in one of these:


Both of these guys are based off of Squieu's awesome mini-frame.

Under the Hood Pt.2

The second installment of "Under the Hood" has a few more frames to have some fun with.

Mini-Frame by Sqeuieu

This is my favorite frame at the moment. Nearly every piece on the thing can be expanded, changed out, or used for some detailing. It's poseable, looks sweet, and is sturdy to boot.

Sqeuieu has some cool variations in his brickshelf gallery, and (please excuse the self-promotion) I've got a few designs as well. The only real downside to this frame that I can see is that it requires 7 of those four stud 1x1 bricks, which are some of the pricier pieces to buy in large amounts. There is an LDraw file of this guy available on Divnull as well.

Hi-Leg by Joshua AC Newman

These guys are pretty sweet. A very well built and unique frame compared to most of the other guys around. I love the reverse legs and all the potential the torso has. Here's a variation by Jed September that I absolutely love, and here's a company of hi-leg badboys with a commisar by Soren. Aaaaaaand here's the breakdown shot of the torso for all you would be Hi-leggers.

WRH-102 Warhorse by triple_ought

While this one is quite new, I really love how it has the feel of a commisar on steroids. Triple-ought has a few variants as well as a breakdown shot of his build. I can't wait to see what the rest of the community does with this guy.

Under the Hood pt.1

Much like how car companies take someone else's parts and slap a new body over it, a lot of the custom builds that have shown up have someone else's core designs under the hood. Here's a quick rundown of some of those core designs.

The Chub - By Soren

The Chub is by far one of the most popular and most mod-able frames out there at the moment. If you were to strip it down to it's bare essentials it's got lots of space to build off of, looks great, and is pretty damn pose-able too.

Ironsnpier has a wonderful variant here.

Joshua Newman has a killer reskin here as well.

The Conscript/Commisar - By Soren (again)

Both the Conscript and Commisar are very similar builds and you probably wouldn't even notice the difference between the two at first (I know I didn't). It's another sleek looking frame from Soren with a lot of modding potential. Those arm or leg pieces can easily be swapped out with studded bricks and the backpack potential is near unlimited. You can get the LDraw file over at Dinvull.

Dr Watsman has done quite a bit with this design as seen here, here, here, and here.

MgN-302/303 Series - By Malcom Craig

An older, but very versatile frame originally designed for Mechaton. It may not be as pretty as some of Soren's stuff, but oh man this guy is a modder's dream.

Jed September has countless variations of this guy as well as a few breakdown shots, this one is by far my favorite.

You can also get the LDraw file for this one over at Dinvull.

More still to come!