The Lineholder was Kressly Warworks' first BattleMech design. Though it broke no new technological ground, the Lineholder met all of its original specifications and in less than a year had broken sales records for 'Mechs in the 55-ton weight class. Its low price quickly made the Lineholder the standard 'Mech of choice for smaller powers and minor nobles throughout the Inner Sphere. Though some upgrades came out over the years, most of them went against the basic, low cost idea and did not sell as well. When war between Epsilon Eridani and Small World began to heat up, they needed more Lineholders to continue the fight and ordered a very simple upgrade that maintained the basic ideals and made it more capable of surviving catastrophic damage, and hence making it less expensive in the long run.

       The Lineholder was designed as a mobile weapons platform with the ability to withstand considerable punishment. For a medium 'Mech, the Lineholder fulfills these goals extremely well. Armed with a pair of LongFire missile racks above its right shoulder and a BlazeFire large laser in its left arm, the Lineholder can shell out consistent and deadly long-range fire. Note that some references have erroneously stated that the missiles are in the right arm. For close combat the 'Mech carries four torso-mounted Intek medium lasers, reliable and effective weapons that provide continuous fire support. The Lineholder has more than enough heat sinks to deal with potential overheating caused by any of its weapons-problems arise only when the lasers and missile racks are fired simultaneously for extended periods. The one upgrade performed on the 2F in 3064 was the inclusion of ferro-fibrous armor and a CASE system. The armor gave the design better protection and the CASE system allows it to survive, even in the event of a catastrophic ammunition explosion. Though such events leave the Lineholder badly mangled, its ability to fight on afterwards has turned many battles in the last forty years.

       Kressly Warworks originally planned to sell the Lineholder to minor noble families throughout the Inner Sphere, but the breakdown of authority in the former Sarna March caused Kressly to change its marketing strategy. The firm began to sell the Lineholder to the myriad factions in the so-called Chaos March. Many of these ironically fought Tikonov when it began expanding, giving the Ridzik brothers a profound respect for the design. For a time they even adopted its use into their Republican Guards, usually replacing the highest heat sink in the left torso with a C3 slave to improve tactical coordination of their units. The Republic auctioned off what Lineholders survived their various military actions after replacing them by more capable BattleMechs, but many still remain in their militia units. They are the primary BattleMech of the Triumvirate Guards, and Kressly Warworks sells them elsewhere. Common in the armies of minor nobles throughout the Inner and Outer Spheres, the design is also loved by mercenaries and Periphery realms where even the advanced armor can usually be at least patched back up after being damaged.