Stolen Clan tech! This will be 2/A/149.
I'll have glamor shots up later - they probably won't help much. This is the Dire Wolf. First appearing in Inner Sphere space around 3050, this Clan Mech absolutely wrecked the first IS units to encounter the superior tech. It is a 100 ton Assault class Clan mech.
The Dire Wolf is one of the OmniMechs that became feared throughout the Inner Sphere during the initial Clan Invasion, and rightly so. The Dire Wolf weighs in at an impressive one hundred tons and has a relatively slow cruising speed of 32.4 km/h provided by a 300 XL engine. Its speed and armor protection matches that of an Atlas, but it has superior potential firepower with fifty and a half tons of free pod space for weapons and equipment. It is these traits which saw the 'Mech code-named Daishi (pseudo-Japanese for "Great Death") by the criminal underbelly of the Draconis Combine, a name that would be proven grimly accurate time and time again.
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| Daishi [Dire Wolf] |
Vulture Prime, Daishi, Vulture Prime [2], Mad Cat
The Mad Dog is a heavy Clan OmniMech used for long-range indirect fire support. With hunched shoulders, a protruding head, and reverse-jointed legs, the Mad Dog resembles a vulture, so much so that it was independently named Vulture and Hagetaka (or Hagetaga, "Vulture" in Japanese) by the Inner Sphere forces which first encountered it. The name also fit the perceived battlefield role of the Mad Dog; technical documents from the thirty-first century suggested the role of the Mad Dog was to act as a support 'Mech, and it was theorized to be intended to hold a hill and maintain constant watch over the entire battlefield, like a vulture waiting for its prey.
The Timber Wolf is a fast, heavy OmniMech. A signature design of the Clans' military might, it was arguably the first Clan OmniMech encountered by Inner Sphere forces (as opposed to periphery forces) on The Rock in 3049 by Phelan Kell.[5][8][9]
Vaguely resembling a cross between the MAD (Marauder) and CAT (Catapult) series, the Timber Wolf was tagged with the Inner Sphere reporting name Mad Cat on first contact. The targeting computer on Phelan Kell's Wolfhound switched between MAD and CAT when trying to identify it; upon analyzing the data recording from Kell's 'Mech, Precentor Martial Anastasius Focht later officially designated it Mad Cat.[5][8][9]
The Timber Wolf is vastly more powerful than either the 3025-era Marauder or Catapult, and features approximately as much firepower as both of those mechs combined. It uses its speed and firepower to engage an enemy at the range of its choosing. When first encountered by Inner Sphere forces the idea that a heavy 'Mech could move so swiftly while being as heavily armed and armored as the Timber Wolf was inconceivable. With its twelve tons of ferro-fibrous armor and an arsenal that rivaled most assault 'Mechs of the era, it was completely alien to Inner Sphere military planners, commanders, and even the Precentor Martial of ComStar. First introduced in 2945, the Timber Wolf was designed by Clan Wolf as a second generation OmniMech along with the Gargoyle and the Naga to replace the aging Woodsman. While the Gargoyle may have been a very capable, fast assault OmniMech, and the Naga may have been an excellent fire-support OmniMech, Clan Wolf (and indeed every other Clan) instantly realized the value of the Timber Wolf; thus, production rights to the Timber Wolf were jealously (and successfully) defended. Only through trade, gifts and battlefield salvage has the Timber Wolf entered the armies of other Clans. Until the invasion of the Inner Sphere, production of the Timber Wolf has been limited to a single facility on Strana Mechty.[5][8][9]
The ACR is almost complete. I might actually get it finished by EOY and hit the deadline! Monetary constraints and some time constraints may become obstacles though.