Mad Cat

[dragon]

My friend sent me this I don't know if it's his cat or if he found this somewhere but still cool.

[fusion]

Liked the picture, but it would have been better if you made it...

So yeah. nice.

[Nephtys]

I am amused.

Though randomly, this makes me wonder. Why did the Mad Cat become BT's Posterchild all those years ago? In 3025, it was the Atlas, which is totally understandable. Sometimes, it was the Warhammer, which was the best mech of it's class, but that had to go away since it was from Macross.

But why the Mad Cat for 3050+? Not say, the Vulture, Masakari, Black Hawk, Ryoken or other decent looking Clanner designs?

[Alan Bolte]

It's just something about those shoulder-mounted missile launchers.

[Oskuro]

I came into the thread expecting either kitty pictures or a mech. AND I GOT BOTH! AWESOME!

I personally like the Mad Cat design (Although it'll always be "Timber Wolf" to me), but the Vulture does look and feel better. I think it's success comes from it being distinctly non-anthropomorphic, as more anthro mech look too similar to the typical manga robot (that is, silly).

Also:

Mech Treehouse FTW!

[Batman]

But why the Mad Cat for 3050+? Not say, the Vulture, Masakari, Black Hawk, Ryoken or other decent looking Clanner designs?

Because for the original designs the Mad Cat WAS the only decent looking Clanner one?

[Nephtys]

I came into the thread expecting either kitty pictures or a mech. AND I GOT BOTH! AWESOME!

I personally like the Mad Cat design (Although it'll always be "Timber Wolf" to me), but the Vulture does look and feel better. I think it's success comes from it being distinctly non-anthropomorphic, as more anthro mech look too similar to the typical manga robot (that is, silly).

Also:

Mech Treehouse FTW!

I suppose that's a bit true. It's a giant robot that doesn't look like Japan made it. It looks like an attack helicopter factory made it.

Also, that is the best dad ever.

[VF5SS]

It's a giant robot that doesn't look like Japan made it.

but what of the glaug

It probably didn't hurt that Activision seized upon the Mad Cat as a visually distinct design in the age of low res game models. Plus it has the full spread of Battletech weapons as part of its design. Also is lacks hands so you don't feel so bad when you can't punch things in the game.

[2000AD]

I currently have this as my desktop background, wishing the guy whomade it had made one in a massive resolution:

[Oskuro]

Also is lacks hands so you don't feel so bad when you can't punch things in the game.

My incessant ramming into opponents would like to disagree, but it was so ineffectual that yeah, more SMASH! would have been nice.

I was honestly shocked on my first (and only) tabletop Battletech game when one of my opponents wielded a heavy mace, and proceeded to SMASH! mechs... Until my close-range Alpha Strike blasted him into tiny bits.

[VF5SS]

The SMASH! is one of the things I like about the board game. Nothing like blowing off some guy's leg and then smashing him to death with it. Or pushing some dude into a building.

[Darksider]

The SMASH! is one of the things I like about the board game. Nothing like blowing off some guy's leg and then smashing him to death with it. Or pushing some dude into a building.

Having never played the board game, Melee combat in BTech has always been something of a curiosity of mine. It just doesn't happen in the novels, so the only place i've really seen it is adam steiner getting choppy with his Axman in the cartoon.

Is it true that an Atlas can toss other mechs around like rag dolls or pick up a tree to use as a club?

[Nephtys]

The SMASH! is one of the things I like about the board game. Nothing like blowing off some guy's leg and then smashing him to death with it. Or pushing some dude into a building.

Having never played the board game, Melee combat in BTech has always been something of a curiosity of mine. It just doesn't happen in the novels, so the only place i've really seen it is adam steiner getting choppy with his Axman in the cartoon.

Is it true that an Atlas can toss other mechs around like rag dolls or pick up a tree to use as a club?

You can pick up a tree or girder to use as a club, which smashes after one hit. But it's an effective hit. You can't toss other Mechs around, but an Atlas's kick can shatter the legs of most light mechs.

It happens, but is something only common in the 3rd Succession War, at the lowpoint of technology where targetting systems are getting awful from tech atrophy, and improvised attacks are effective. As tech gets better, it gets rarer outside of melee weapon equipped mechs. And Clanners don't do it out of their combat style and honor code stuff.

[Uraniun235]

IS names suck, Clan names forever. That there is a Timber Wolf.

[Darksider]

While we're talking about Mad Cats, does anyone like the new dark age version?

'cause I sure as hell don't. Christ on a pogo stick. Not only is crap age producing it's own shitty designs, but now it's fucking up the classic ones too?

[White Haven]

Dark Age is garbage and always has been. ...News at 11?

That said, a 100-ton mech with TSM has a 20-ton lift weight, allowing it to use a Locust as a club.

[VF5SS]

You can pick up a tree or girder to use as a club, which smashes after one hit. But it's an effective hit. You can't toss other Mechs around, but an Atlas's kick can shatter the legs of most light mechs.

Right. For the uninitiated, punch, weapon, and kick damage is based on weight. Punch damage is Mech tonnage divided by 10 so a 100 ton Atlas does 10 damage per punch and hits according to the punch table so you have a 1 in 6 chance of smacking someone right in the head.

Weapon damage and kick damage is tonnage divided by 5 so and Atlas does 20 damage per attack. When you kick someone you will hit either the left or right leg. Taking over 20 damage in a single round forces you to make a dice roll to see if you stay standing or fall over. Also taking a kick or missing a kick incurs a piloting skill check to see if the Mech falls over.

Since something like an Atlas has two hands it can pick up a club and do 20 damage with a 1 in 6 chance of hitting its target in the head which is an instant kill on any Mech since the rules only allow for at best 9 armor and 3 internal structure points in the head (12 points total). It would also be possible to make a 100 ton mech and give it a hatchet weapon with is a one handed club that does weapon damage. In the standard rules you can also push enemies, charge them, and do Death From Above attacks. Some of the later source books include things like claws, grappling, and other weird weapons.

[White Haven]

Clubs and other melee weapons are effectively kicks that land on the full-body table, not the punch table. They'd be WAY too powerful if they'd headcap on a 1d6. That's the purvey of 60+ ton mechs with TSM active that can punch for 'your head,' but that requires specific fittings, not just any schmuck with a telephone pole.

[Imperial Overlord]

The Timber Wolf was the face of 3050 Battletech for the same reason that the Warhammer was of 3025: it looked pretty good (yes, the Mad Dog looks better) and its clearly the king of the heavy weight class (although the Warhammer had to share that honour with the Marauder). The assaults are bigger and badder, but they're slower and rarer. You're much more likely to get your hands on, or be crushed by, the king of the heavies.

[Isolder74]

My cat may be commandeering that machine as we've taken away from her her favorite sleeping spot.

[White Haven]

As for the Mad Cat, it's the battlecruiser of the 'mech world, only not designed and commanded by a bunch of idiots (clan honor aside). It's fast, heavily armed, and heavily-armored. It can kill anything it can catch, outmaneuver anything it can't kill, and nothing that's fast enough to catch it really wants to.

[Nephtys]

As for the Mad Cat, it's the battlecruiser of the 'mech world, only not designed and commanded by a bunch of idiots (clan honor aside). It's fast, heavily armed, and heavily-armored. It can kill anything it can catch, outmaneuver anything it can't kill, and nothing that's fast enough to catch it really wants to.

I suppose this is true from a 3050 standpoint. It simultaneously outguns IS Assault Mechs, outruns IS Mediums, is as heavily armored as the best armored IS Heavies and is capable of fighting at all ranges with equal effectiveness. AND it has Machine Guns, for the hell of it.

Still, I dunno about the MAD-3R being considered a 'king' of 3025 Heavies. While the WHM-6R, 6K and 6D are definitely amazing, the MAD-3R has damned weak armor right over it's side torsos, and a torso section with nothing except ammo, meaning a quick and painful death. Also, lack of Heat Sinks.

Ahh, those Battletech days. (hums)

[Imperial Overlord]

Still, I dunno about the MAD-3R being considered a 'king' of 3025 Heavies. While the WHM-6R, 6K and 6D are definitely amazing, the MAD-3R has damned weak armor right over it's side torsos, and a torso section with nothing except ammo, meaning a quick and painful death. Also, lack of Heat Sinks.

1) Most 3025 'mechs have insufficient heat sinks, including the Warhammer. The Marauder has a long range, low heat AC to throw into the mix along with its lasers and PPCs, meaning its hurting you even when its dumping heat its got plenty of firepower. That's the most common variants, of course. The variants of both 'mechs with more HS were popular with my group.

2) The Warhammer carries more ammo and has less torso armour than the Maruader. It's legs are under armoured in most configurations, which is severe liability in close range brawls with anything big. The Marauder has a single vulnerable side torso, which won't be hit that often. It's a weakness, but not a big one. I fought in them often enough to know. I tended to prefer the Marauder variant with the large laser and extra heatsinks instead of the AC, cylcing laser and PPC barrages at medium range. Of course, when it comes to heavy weights which are ammo explosions waiting to happen, no one beats the Crusader (although the Jagermech tries very hard).

3) King of the 3025 heavyweights is a toss up between Marauder and Warhammer, at least with the people I played with. Everyone liked them both. Other heavyweights got respect (Thunderbolt for instance) or even love (I racked up a lot of dead Crusaders due to excessive GM love for that 'mech), but they were the kings.

[Steve]

I always thought the Mad Cat was an awesome design as well, and the Mad Cat Primary (which is what that is) is probably the most recognizable 'Mech in the setting. Even moreso than an Atlas these days....

[Uraniun235]

From the "guy who mostly knows BT through Mechwarrior 2" perspective, Timber Wolf really exemplifies the giddy fun of a good MechWarrior session; it has a variety of weapons (from woosh-woosh LRMs to pew-pew to bang-bang), has good speed, and if needed can get into a slugging match with all but the very heaviest of enemy 'mechs.

As for why the image is iconic, I think a lot of it has to do with those huge shoulder-mounted missile racks.