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Thorizer ("Gooney-Bird")

Technology Base: Inner Sphere
Tonnage: 35
Movement: Hover / Aerofighter

Cruise: 10 (as hovertank)
Flank: 15 (as hovertank)

Cruising: 5 (as aerofighter)
Overthrust: 8 (as aerofighter)

Armor: Standard
Armament: 2 Medium Lasers, 1 Large Laser

Starleague Sourcebook

"In 2390, Johnson-Aldis Weaponries announced the production of a combat vehicle that would revolutionize the battlefield. Dubbed the Thorizer, after the Thorin flying predator, it was a cross between a large hovercraft and a jet fighter. The Thorizer spent most of its time on its hovercraft skirts, but hidden wings as well as concealed nozzles to provide jet propulsion would emerge if necessary. The Thorizer would then speed along the ground, gradually forcing more and more of its engine's exhaust through the jet nozzles and away from its hovercraft skirts as the wings lifted it from the ground. As with most hybrid weapons, the Thorizer could not perform up to the standards of either of its parents. It was a poor hovercraft because it had no armor, and it was a poor fighter that could only fly at only half the speed of its slowest airborne rival. The Thorizer, quickly dubbed the "Gooney-Bird" by its crews, lasted only 20 years, mostly in militia units."

Game Rules:
The Thorizer performs as a standard hovercraft on the ground. However, during the movement phase it can move eight hexes in a straight line and announce a lift-off. It cannot fire weapons during the round of conversion and starts the next round on the corresponding AeroTech/Battlespace map. When the armor on either of the sides is depleted during flight, the Thorizer instantly crashes. The conversion equipment weighs as much as LAM conversion equipment. It uses the same hit location tables while flying as on the ground. When flying, the suspension factor for being a hovercraft is lost. The Thorizer has 30 points of fuel available.

Equipment

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