Bottom-Shelf
Monster.

Three things define a factory-fresh Hetzer: a Crusher SH Autocannon, the most inexpensive parts sourced for everything else, and the fact that some assembly may be required by the end user. A single AC/20 with four tons of ammunition is the centerpiece of this combat vehicle and accounts for over half the unit’s value, and value it is, as the gun is an absolute monster in close-range engagements.

An internal combustion engine pushes the combined package of gun and six tons of armor at a modest 43 kph, with the ability to sustain up to 64 kph in combat conditions; furthermore, this simple engine choice allows maintenance even in the most austere conditions. Unfortunately for fans of DEZGRA, the SitiCide 140 engine tops out at 86 kph, so without extensive modifications, the Hetzer will not make it through the full loop.

The armor scheme is simple and offers exactly enough protection to the crew to sustain a single anti-armor strike. After being hit, you’ll see a sensible Hetzer crew retreat to cover or from the theater. Unfortunately, most Hetzer crews are far from sensible.

Austerity measures are funny, not as in ha-ha funny, but sad clown on the first night of the corndog extravaganza funny – he knows the pain and humiliation have just begun. The inability to fulfill doctrinal needs, stemming from a myriad of conditions, including but not limited to compromised industrial processes, logistical gaps, or general incompetence, has led and will continue to lead to combat vehicles such as the Hetzer.

As it should come to no one’s surprise, the assault gun is not a new concept. In times of hardship, take an obsolete armored vehicle chassis and give it new life with a big gun; it may not offer the same capabilities as a main battle tank, but it should work well enough for either anti-tank work or as the lynchpin in infantry assaults.

Though this attempt at combat recycling arts and crafts wasn’t necessarily the case with the Hetzer, at least in the case of factory fresh hulls, the machine to fill the need came into life two decades after the start of the Third Succession War, a time when materials and manufacturing were beyond premium value, primarily because the Second Succession War saw to the destruction of countless facilities and billions of lives.

In 2887, Quikscell sold the Inner Sphere on the need for a cheap, relatively mobile, anti-armor and infantry-support platform that could either shore up their dwindling stocks of both tanks and BattleMechs or free up these assets on worlds that didn’t require such a significant investment in combat arms.

As such, you will find Hetzers everywhere, from house regulars to periphery bandits and every shade between, and the fact that the production lines are still in service should tell you all you need to know about the current state of affairs.