Lego Build 112 — Peregrine VTOL

The use of VTOL (Vertical Take-Off and Landing) vehicles, otherwise known as helicopters, is quite common in Battletech. Representing cheap and reliable technology that allows the quick deployment of troops and firepower on the battlefield, these machines were found to be irreplaceable. Thus, their development continued for centuries, with the Peregrine being an iconic example for the late part of the Succession Wars.

The Peregrine was developed after a requirement of the Wolf’s Dragoons mercenary unit for a quick, cheap attack VTOL. Sadly, the end product, while fast, wouldn’t be neither cheap nor reliable and the mercenaries would tone down their use after some disastrous early deployments.

However, other factions saw how they could use the design. Chief among them was the Capellan Confederation, who found in the quick, sleek design a way to infiltrate special forces operatives deep behind enemy lines. For this effect, they replaced most of the weapons for a cargo bay. Uncomfortable as it was, due to the VTOL not having been built for such a task, it turned to be quite effective at this role, as shown during the Enkra Campaign, where Capellan Home Guards, Taurian line troops, and Aurigan defenders clashed because of the political fallout of the Fourth Succession War.

The more observant among you will notice that this build has some noticeable differences from the official art of the Peregrine. This is because I decided to base myself on the MechWarrior 4 design of this unit. Honestly, I always found the MechWarrior version of the Peregrine to be sleek and interesting to look at, while the official design is a bit weird, as it is essentially a jet fighter with a rotorblade on top, something that wouldn’t work was it a real vehicle. Evidently that Battletech has its fair share of weird designs that shouldn’t really work, but the Peregrine is simply too silly.

I think the end result is still quite neat. It takes 27 parts plus the base. I think it is really easy to put together should you have the parts. It is not the first controversial build I’ve ever made, so what do you think?

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