The Slayer of the Black Widow definitely deserves a video of her own. I like to think that in another universe, an ancient, decrepit Joanna dies after beating Malvina Hazen to death with those steel-tacked gloves for disgracing the Clan.
It is a fantastic smoke jaguar legacy but it is hard to say that it is their ultimate weapon. So many of their mechs did so well such as the dire wolf, warhawk, and mist lynx also props to them for not inventing it but getting it to production first like a proper asshole.
@@thil2894 All the best weapons in the world wouldn't have helped them given their grand strategy was horrible. Like, unless the clans got some Gurren Lagann tier mechs, they were always going to lose.
Why do I love the Mad Dog? Because from the waist down, it's a Timberwolf. (The programmers for the early iterations of the Virtual Worlds pods wanted to be able to recycle geometry when they could to save memory space. Thus the Doylest reason the Omnimech was born.)
In a setting so amazingly constructed, those moments when a Mech design takes more than a lifetime to be completed or it takes a successor state a hundred years to go "Hmmm... how about I replace one heatsink with a medium laser?" are like little gems of entertainment.
I failed to mention I was recently gifted an original first run Mad Dog poster from FASA. That treasure, along with another original, still in packaging lead Wolverine mini from the 80s, were part of a Christmas package.
Sure, the Timber Wolf gets all the glamor shots and glory, but the Mad Dog was the real workhorse of Clan Invasion era. It was my first choice back when I played MechWarrior 2, and it's still a rock solid platform for when I want to play with Clanner tech for a bit.
You can look at it now and see all the shortcomings it has, but at the same time... the context of the times it was first encountered by the IS would have been terrifying. So you're telling me it hits like a 3R Marauder with those lasers doing Inner Sphere PPC damage, but it has archer-levels of missiles on top? But it's moving 5/8? And then, when someone got brave, (or desperate) enough to close inside the minimum ranges for those two mechs, they get the rather soul-crushing surprise that clantech LRMs don't have a minimum range.
the Mad Dog is, i think, the quintessential Clan OmniMech-using its advanced technology to be fast and well-armed, but only decently armored and frequently misusing the generous pod space to fit far more weaponry than it can actually cool or supply for long on paper it has the firepower of an Inner Sphere assault and the speed of an Inner Sphere medium, but in practice it will often be degraded to having speed and firepower more akin to an Inner Sphere heavy, at many times the cost and logistical requirement thanks for the video, MF!
@@MechanicalFrog after a few rounds of fire during the Clan Invasion, a lot of Mad Dog variants are about on par with a contemporary Warhammer 7M (similar firepower, armor, and speed when you take heat into account), which wasn't even a particularly great LosTech upgrade to the old girl
Most people say the Mad Cat is the most iconic clan mech and they are factually correct, but for me it was always the Vulture. For some reason images of the machine featured very heavily in magazine previews of Mech Commander (my introduction to the universe) back in the day and the design just stuck with me. Of course, it helps that it *is* a good machine, too. Also, shoutout to Ea-Nasir.
@@topcatcoast2coast579 2 Timbys have as much armour as 3 Mad Dogs and only 12 less cooling. 3 Mad Dogs vs 2 Timberwolves gives the Mad Dogs fire superiority for the first turn, then they're overheating, they have to stop firing or stop running (hint, never stop running), then the Timbys rip one of them in half on the second turn and it all gets very messy. I don't remember ever playing that specific scenario, but anything vs a Star with 2 Timberwolves is in for an interesting time.
Joanna just bee deserving of a video including herself and other standouts from Jade Falcon!!! Thanks for everything. Happy Fathers Day (belated)!! - Godspeed
Cheers for a classic clan mech overview :-) we love the vulture because of the 2 dirty clan large pulse lasers that are amongst the nastiest weapons on the battlefield :-)
4:05 Smoked Jaguar was never known to for its lower castes. The warriors had a, “the beatings will continue until moral improves”, management policy towards them. I don’t blame them for taking that long. An upset warrior probably killed the lead designer every quarter.
I fell in love with the Mad Dog in one of the older mech warrior intro cinematics. Seeing those mad dogs cone out of the hanger woth those swiveling chin mounted pulse lasers. It was perfection. To this day, despite better mechs being available, it's my go to mech for my pilot.
@@MechanicalFrog precisely. One of my fave heavies in MWO is a Mad Dog with an ERLL, UAC10, and a battery of SRM4s. It's heat efficient and absolutely shreds up close while still being able to reach out and touch, and it's a viable build in tabletop too!
Of the 3 main invasion heavy omnimechs, this is my Silver pick. The Vulture isn't as flashy, survivable, and versatile as the Timber Wolf, but I do find myself liking the Vulture more than the Thor. And of course, there's the greater availability of the Vulture than the Timber Wolf. And as history shows, a design being better doesn't help you if you can't acquire and properly support sufficient numbers of it.
Little MW5: Clans anecdote here - As soon as I got access to the Mad Dog, the first thing I did was change out it's pulse lasers for ERs, freeing up space to add a couple extra tons of ammo for the LRM-20s and to stuff a bit more cooling in there. I created Config-T by accident, though it's highly likely I may have been inspired by it being mentioned here and just didn't realize it at the time.
never gave this mech love back in the day but seeing how it has remained useful thanks to that massive pod space......just impressive. also you gotta love the look!
I remember my first time jumping into a mechpod at a Jillians in Denver. The mech I picked was the "Vulture" (later learned it was called the Mad Dog).It felt satisfying when I rained down volleys and volleys of LRMs on the enemy mechs from a ridgeline. My brother was backing me up in his Hauptmann and just decimated the softened targets with an AC20.
The realization that led me to loving the Prime configuration is that Clan LRMs are some of the best SRMs in the game. Instead of trying to use them to wear down enemies at range or for fire support, I save them for crit hunting after the pulse lasers have punched some holes.
Dropping the LRM-20s to 15s and the Large pulses to ERs opens up quite a bit of tonnage for armor, ammo and heatsinks. That build in MW5: Clans has done the impossible, made me love the mech I considered one of the ugliest machines I've ever seen.
In High School my friends and I would play Mech Warrior 3 in one on one duels. Because I kept winning I (unknowingly at the time) did the Batchall thing and bid away a 15 ton advantage. They all were elated and talking about how they'll use the Timberwolf or Warhawk to finally crush me. These games didn't just end when one player died. They would respawn and I had to keep fighting until they killed me. My mech of choice to answer their challenge? The Vulture I ran a custom configuration that was loaded with 3x LRM 20s LT/RT/RT with 4 Tons of ammo 4x Flamers LA (My friends were always running energy heavy builds and barely controlling their heat lol) 5x ER Medium Lasers RA remaining tonnage was given over to more Heatsinks. I'd use extreme range to whittle them down with missiles, while using hills/buildings/ etc for cover. Once they got to medium range I'd pop out for shots with the lasers then run back to cover. At point blank I'd just hit them with flamers till they shut down. I think my record was 6 or 7 kills before they got me lol.
I gotta hand it to the designers, j adore the variant with a ton of SRM tubes. Its like duct taping a bunch of trench sweepers onto a giant robot of death.
I've always liked the look of the Vulture, but MW4 really took it to another level. That intro cinematic was one of the best. The MWDA Vulture followed MW4's design with the chin lasers, and one of the things I appreciate most of the CGL refresh is the nod to that chin turret with the sensor pod thing. The Vulture is the Clan Omnimech Archer, and in turn influenced the Bushwacker's long, narrow torso with an XL, as well as the Avatar (one of Kurita's first home-built Omnimechs). IIRC the MW4/MWDA Vulture has been reclassified as a Mk II or Mk III, with the II supposedly being mostly an aesthetic change (and possibly moving the medium lasers from the Prime into the CT) and the III making a full suite of configurations based on that new design aesthetic.
Have a look at the Mad Dog D. It is roughly contemporaneous to MW4. Ever since MW4 there has been a long effort to match the Mad Dog to the MW4 aesthetic. I prefer the sleeker original, but that is what we get.
The Mad Dog is one of those mechs that is living proof of the mystery of why there are not more clan 60 tonners. It fits the holy trinity of firepower, armor and speed for a heavy. We need more 60 tonners in the future. My favorite variations are the F and a custom variation of the Prime I made in MWO. I took off the cLPL's for cMPL's, upgraded the cLRM 15 racks with Artemis IV and gave it much more needed LRM ammo tonnage. Love the balance of long range support while if any lights or mediums are stupid enough to get close, they get blasted by 4 cMPL's.
60 tons is a weird spot of being a heavy but 55's get almost all the same thing where as a 75 can be generally as fast with more armor and just as many weapons.
There is no firesupport among true clan warriors. it's a concept fit only for those unable to win a proper duel; it is a freebirth's job, and we will not let them use our shiny omnimechs for that. ;)
MechWarrior2: Mercenaries. The Vulture/Mad Dog was my favorite. The Timberwolf was on the cover. I'm contrarian. I always end up siding with the counterpart to the main character. The play style of dropping missiles before running up and face stomping was a fun bit too. I'm still figuring out the rules and mechanics for the tabletop. Havent played that yet. Sounds like this will still be one of my favorites. And whichever one in MW3 looked like it was permanently crouched in a metal turtle shell.
B config is the best tabletop config for the Mad Dog IMO: The 'mech itself has too little armor for much staying power in a fight, so it needs to either be fire support, or deal so much damage so fast that longevity isn't an issue. The Mad Dog B is the latter. This is a design you play aggressively with, the heat curve is actually phenomenal - you can risk a small overheat with the streaks thrown in (don't fire one ERLL) and if they don't hit, you're actually in the clear, you only overheat when things go your way, and if you overheat from infernos or whatever, you just mixup some combination of the medium pulse lasers and the streaks to get back in the green while still dealing serious damage. The LRM20 at first glance seems bizarre - only has 6 shots, which looks really dumb at first, but not when you realize they aren't for long range fire support - Clan LRM's have no short range penalty; their best usage here comes from crit-seeking holes in an enemy 'mech's armor, in the Mad Dog B, its best in a backstab. This is a 'mech that you manuever into the rear arc of an enemy 'mech, break down the armor with the lasers and then and unleash so much missile/crit-seeking firepower that you kill or cripple a nearly pristine mech in 1 round. If I can get a Mad Dog B into a proper brawl (and Inner Sphere players always want a brawl), it will reliably remove a mech every round or three, especially if you save it in reserve sniping with the ERLL's until enemy units have a few holes in their armor - say rounds 8-12; by round 16 it'll be dead or nearly dead, just like the entire lance it brawled with. This variant exemplifies what a Clan brawler should be like - You play insanely aggressive, almost suicidal. It's a stark contrast to how most people play Clans, which is methodically maximizing movement modifiers and range brackets slowly whittling down Inner Sphere tonnage over the course of 20-30 rounds. Which is a playstyle that works, but really isn't fun. The Mad Dog B is the exact opposite of that. You get in a short range knife fight and everything starts dying. In my experience playing with people, they have a lot more fun this way, both for them and for me - rounds end faster, stuff blows up more, and everyone feels like they're doing something interesting rather than being helplessly pinpricked for 80% of the game until they finally corner a Clan 'mech and kick it to death.
The MadDog is the perfect example of Clan mindset during the initial invasion. Overgunned, undersinked, and without enough armor. But the shock, awe and overwhelming aggression won them great gains initialy.
Worth noting that even when the LRMs run dry, you're still capable of throwing PPC-level damage downrange every turn with a 5/8/0 movement profile (with improved accuracy mind you) and, if someone _dared_ to close distance you could bring both of the medium pulses into the mix. It would push you into the red by a fair bit, even standing still, but it's more damage than an Awesome and... that's terrifying from a mech that's the same weight-class as the Rifleman and the Dragon.
Ah the Vulture a great name for this nightmare. Another clan mech that forces me to actually think about playing them instead of the only true heroes of the IS. I loved that it had a 360 rotation of the torso in Mechwarrior 4 Mercs
I love this mech. It's the first clan design I ever fielded on tabletop and it was always a consistent performer for me. Hell, in the last game I had, my Mad Dog scored the only two mech kills of the match; a Fire Moth early game and a Timberwolf later.
The Mad Dog was the original favorite battlemech of mine way back when I played my dad's copy of MechWarrior 2 and saw that mech on the cover of Ghost Bear's Legacy.^^ (And despite being an Inner Sphere free-birth scum myself, I call it a "Mad Dog" instead of a "Vulture" because I like dogs more than birds. Batchall me...) These days my now favorite mech is the MadCat MKII, with the Bull Shark being a close second. But based on how they look, you can kinda see a pattern as to why I like all of them so much.^^ I'm very happy to listen to a more in depth review of my OG favorite battlemech. Keep doing what you're doing Mechanical Frog, we love you for it.^^
I used to use a personal load out, four ER Large Lasers, two in each arm, and the side torsos (and everywhere else) packed with 12 extra Double Heat sinks (48 heat comp total). 4-4-3 firing sequence and this is the fastest moving pseudo-Awesome of the Clan Invasion era.
The Vulture/MadDog was my favorite Mech to use in MechAssault 1 and it's the most successful Mech in BattleTech, in the way of how many Clans were using them during the Clan Invasion
The Mad Dog is my favorite mech, and one of the first mechs that introduced me to the setting. Story time. Back in the early 90s there was this silly little DOS game called Megatron (not to be confused with the Decepticon leader), which featured two mechs """borrowed""" from Battletech: the Vulture and Mad Cat. It was a simple 3D maze game with the objective of finding and blowing up the opponent with lasers & missiles before they did the same to you. Of the two, I always preferred the design of the Vulture and picked that one to play as. Fast forward a couple of years and a little game comes out, called Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. Although the Timber Wolf was featured prominently on the box art, in the training mode it's the Mad Dog that greets you first (with the gruff instructor piloting it and constantly berrating you). And at the very end of training, you're given a Mad Dog yourself for your Trial of Position. So the Mad Dog is the mech that earned you the respect of your instructor, and the title of Mechwarrior. That, combined with its iconic design, pretty much cemented it as my favorite. I would always end up replacing the launchers for LRM-15s to add extra ammo and better heat management, along with some jump jets for mobility. It was dangerous at all ranges even against Assaults.
Taking the Prime config and letting the Mechtechs get their grubby hands on it, Downgrading the Large Pulse Lasers to Mediums, and using the leftover tonnage for more ammunition seems like a no-brainer.
As a Mechcommander enjoyer, the Mad Dog was a go to mech pretty much as soon as it was salvaged. Tons of weapon space, fast and light. A great lance mate for the Timber Wolf you spent hours trying to salvage at the beginning of the game. As a side note, heavy lasers were amazing weapons in Mechcommander 2. I would load up Blood Asps with heavy large lasers and just delete mechs.
I will always remember that first mission in MW2 where you pilot a Mad Dog in the desert. I can't remember if it was the JF or Wolf campaign. I think the end goal was to scan the enemy dropship after eliminating all enemy mechs. Talk about nostalgia.
The Mad Dog is pretty much the introduction of Pulse Lasers. Its the only first-gen Clan Mech that had them in the prime configuration. Its got the usual flaws of the first-gen(not enough ammo, armor, heat sinks), but its fun. It was on the cover of Mechwarrior 2 Ghost Bear's Legacy. Its got several successors of various qualities. The Mad Mod/Vulture MK II is kind of a black sheep. It was a model redesign around the early 2000s where the medium pulse lasers were moved to a chin rack. I also remember a 75ton version in the MekTek mod for Mechwarrior 4. That version had Gauss Rifles. The Mad Dog Mk III downgrades the pulse lasers to get 80 long range missile tubes on a 60ton design, more than the LRM Carrier has. The Mad Dog Mk IV is a Dark Age design with some new technology, but its much more of a brawler, downgrading to Short Range missiles even if it has 24 tubes.
The Mad Dog. AKA, the Budget Timberwolf. AKA, hell's hottest bastard when I load this thing up with ATMs, a few tons of ammo, ER Small lasers, and a prayer. You aren't everyone's favorite mech, but for a medium-speed striker lance, you're one of my first picks.
Still love my personal config. x4 LRM20s in the sides, x2 HMGs in the arms, x2 Mpulse lasers in the CT, with "directional torso mount" for the Mpulse in the CT. That absolute fucking hero in the intro of MW4 Vengeance just always stuck with me. Whole company gets smoked before they're out of the hangars, gets to the lines and finds there's like, 2 Devastators, an Uziel, and fuck knows what else, and his first choice is "Fuck it we ball" and lets rip with an alpha strike. 80 Clan LRMs is no joke, but neither is the heat that punches out.
I think I always just liked the look of it. Practically speaking it fits in to a mid to long range role quite nicely, in MW5 with some mods I have one set up to use 2 Streak LRM 10's and 8 ER Medium lasers. For the video game this is pretty reasonable but I doubt it would work on the table-top as nicely.
![[MV] A leap of faith...ความเชื่อใจครั้งสุดท้าย (From "Petrichor the series")](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/U1piZH2CNXA/mqdefault.jpg)
The Vulture is one of those mechs that just looks right
Form and function.
I've got questions about where the missile reloads go though, based on the size of the missiles, the launchers and the 'mech's torso in general....
@@todddelevan9488They're in there somewhere around the omni; it's what gives omnimechs their mystique.
@@todddelevan9488clearly, the toes
@@ogrehaslayers605 a feature clearly borrowed from the Crusader!
just started watching, i really hope the custom MF loadout is called the Mad Frog
Solid!!
Well, it is able to hop around with those jumpjets, so that's fitting.
Yes, it can even jump.
but where is the Plasma Cannon(s) for a real MF mech
The CT turret?
The Slayer of the Black Widow definitely deserves a video of her own. I like to think that in another universe, an ancient, decrepit Joanna dies after beating Malvina Hazen to death with those steel-tacked gloves for disgracing the Clan.
If only...
Bonus points in that timeline? Horse is some how mixed up in it. They are coffin mates after all!
Oh Ea-nāșir, you’ll never live it down.
Alrighty.
they say you only truly die when noone speaks your name for the last time
in that sense, he has achieved immortality
So long as someone's name is remembered, they're still alive in some form.
And may _that_ man in particular live forever.
I still have a poster of the Mad Dog/Vulture I got back in 98 it's looking ragged, but I'll never get rid of it
Good as gold.
Smoke Jaguar opted to provide the Clans the ultimate weapon. It is their legacy. The Mad Dog.
As far as legacies go, this is a good one.
Did not help them to win vs Comstar or save their clan though.
I could not resist. Big Fan.
It's also not an Orion,
It is a fantastic smoke jaguar legacy but it is hard to say that it is their ultimate weapon. So many of their mechs did so well such as the dire wolf, warhawk, and mist lynx also props to them for not inventing it but getting it to production first like a proper asshole.
@@thil2894 All the best weapons in the world wouldn't have helped them given their grand strategy was horrible.
Like, unless the clans got some Gurren Lagann tier mechs, they were always going to lose.
Joanna to everyone, including herself: You have just made an enemy for life!
*Bitter mechwarrior shakes fist at sky*
Alright the Mesopotamian copper joke got me lol
Glad someone other than I found it entertaining.
I'd heard about that one too. Made me snicker.
It was some VERY poor quality copper
I had to look that one up.
Why do I love the Mad Dog? Because from the waist down, it's a Timberwolf. (The programmers for the early iterations of the Virtual Worlds pods wanted to be able to recycle geometry when they could to save memory space. Thus the Doylest reason the Omnimech was born.)
Joanna is my favorite Jade Falcon and my favorite Battletech character in general. I would LOVE a vid giving her the attention she deserves.
I really like her character. She's just too grumpy not to appreciate.
lol, maybe Quikscell should sell a combat vehicle called the Ea-nasir-it would certainly fit them
Hmm.
"I'm pretty sure the armor is copper. And no, I didn't bother to check the quality."
What would it be armed with? Rocket Launchers disguised as LRM launchers?
@@h.a.9880 that's a good one, actually
4:20 in... "Oh, Battletech times lines are silly sometimes..." Truer words have never been spoken.
Grain of salt and a suspension of disbelief.
In a setting so amazingly constructed, those moments when a Mech design takes more than a lifetime to be completed or it takes a successor state a hundred years to go "Hmmm... how about I replace one heatsink with a medium laser?" are like little gems of entertainment.
I would just assume that it took so long because Smoke Jaguar kept beating/killing their scientists.
I failed to mention I was recently gifted an original first run Mad Dog poster from FASA. That treasure, along with another original, still in packaging lead Wolverine mini from the 80s, were part of a Christmas package.
Great score 👍🏿
Sure, the Timber Wolf gets all the glamor shots and glory, but the Mad Dog was the real workhorse of Clan Invasion era. It was my first choice back when I played MechWarrior 2, and it's still a rock solid platform for when I want to play with Clanner tech for a bit.
Absolutely agreed.
I always liked how it looked like the evolved form of an Archer
Definitely some similarities there.
You can look at it now and see all the shortcomings it has, but at the same time... the context of the times it was first encountered by the IS would have been terrifying.
So you're telling me it hits like a 3R Marauder with those lasers doing Inner Sphere PPC damage, but it has archer-levels of missiles on top? But it's moving 5/8? And then, when someone got brave, (or desperate) enough to close inside the minimum ranges for those two mechs, they get the rather soul-crushing surprise that clantech LRMs don't have a minimum range.
Life is full of little challenges if you're an Inner Sphere mechwarrior.
Joanna is a severely underrated character
Truth.
The Mad Dog always just... LOOKED right.
Form and function.
the Mad Dog is, i think, the quintessential Clan OmniMech-using its advanced technology to be fast and well-armed, but only decently armored and frequently misusing the generous pod space to fit far more weaponry than it can actually cool or supply for long
on paper it has the firepower of an Inner Sphere assault and the speed of an Inner Sphere medium, but in practice it will often be degraded to having speed and firepower more akin to an Inner Sphere heavy, at many times the cost and logistical requirement
thanks for the video, MF!
Many of the variants would be better off with just one or two more heatsinks instead of that extra weapon you're not going to be able to shoot.
@@MechanicalFrog after a few rounds of fire during the Clan Invasion, a lot of Mad Dog variants are about on par with a contemporary Warhammer 7M (similar firepower, armor, and speed when you take heat into account), which wasn't even a particularly great LosTech upgrade to the old girl
Most people say the Mad Cat is the most iconic clan mech and they are factually correct, but for me it was always the Vulture. For some reason images of the machine featured very heavily in magazine previews of Mech Commander (my introduction to the universe) back in the day and the design just stuck with me. Of course, it helps that it *is* a good machine, too.
Also, shoutout to Ea-Nasir.
Another Clanner mech I first saw in the Battletech cartoon. I cannot help but like this particular one other than the MadCat.
You love the Mad Dog because your credit rating couldn't stretch to a Timberwolf.
Times are tough.
I would rather have 3 Vulture than 2 Mad Cats.
@@topcatcoast2coast579 2 Timbys have as much armour as 3 Mad Dogs and only 12 less cooling. 3 Mad Dogs vs 2 Timberwolves gives the Mad Dogs fire superiority for the first turn, then they're overheating, they have to stop firing or stop running (hint, never stop running), then the Timbys rip one of them in half on the second turn and it all gets very messy. I don't remember ever playing that specific scenario, but anything vs a Star with 2 Timberwolves is in for an interesting time.
It's all about style, this Dog has good bite!
Sometimes it's nice to take the extra money to canopus
My favorite mech as a kid growing up in the 90s.
The art that was on reinforcements 2 boxset (and used elsewhere) went so hard, made it my instant fav in the early 90s!
literally my favorite mech. nasty little machine she is ❤
Joanna just bee deserving of a video including herself and other standouts from Jade Falcon!!! Thanks for everything. Happy Fathers Day (belated)!!
- Godspeed
Thanks for coming by. Hope your Father's Day weekend was stellar.
@@MechanicalFrog TY
"Why do we love the Mad Dog?"
I mean... effing look at it.
"Why do we love the Stormcrow?"
Because it's a medium that thinks it's a heavy.
The Mad Dog was the 2nd Clan Mech tried when I first started getting in the BT universe. It's in my Top 5 Clan Mechs.
Hope the vid did the mech justice.
@@MechanicalFrog Yes. Yes it did.
A personal thank you from my Clan to yours for featuring a Hell's Horse configuration in appropriate colours AND Elementals. Well met, Trothkin.
I mean, they do need some love occasionally.
I LOVE the mad dog, such an iconic design. Plus as a lover of missiles, a mech with big missile boxes make me happy.
Hard to find much wrong with it.
Cheers for a classic clan mech overview :-) we love the vulture because of the 2 dirty clan large pulse lasers that are amongst the nastiest weapons on the battlefield :-)
They do tend to leave a mark.
4:05 Smoked Jaguar was never known to for its lower castes. The warriors had a, “the beatings will continue until moral improves”, management policy towards them. I don’t blame them for taking that long. An upset warrior probably killed the lead designer every quarter.
The missile racks being so close to the engine always amused me
But it looks like a fighter jet with legs so you gotta love that
I fell in love with the Mad Dog in one of the older mech warrior intro cinematics. Seeing those mad dogs cone out of the hanger woth those swiveling chin mounted pulse lasers. It was perfection. To this day, despite better mechs being available, it's my go to mech for my pilot.
To quote the Martians from Invader Zim:
*"Because it's cooool."*
Form and function.
@@MechanicalFrog precisely. One of my fave heavies in MWO is a Mad Dog with an ERLL, UAC10, and a battery of SRM4s. It's heat efficient and absolutely shreds up close while still being able to reach out and touch, and it's a viable build in tabletop too!
Thanks for the video. The prime config of the Mad Dog always truck me as some one wanting the Timberwolf load-out on a lighter frame.
Of the 3 main invasion heavy omnimechs, this is my Silver pick. The Vulture isn't as flashy, survivable, and versatile as the Timber Wolf, but I do find myself liking the Vulture more than the Thor. And of course, there's the greater availability of the Vulture than the Timber Wolf. And as history shows, a design being better doesn't help you if you can't acquire and properly support sufficient numbers of it.
Little MW5: Clans anecdote here - As soon as I got access to the Mad Dog, the first thing I did was change out it's pulse lasers for ERs, freeing up space to add a couple extra tons of ammo for the LRM-20s and to stuff a bit more cooling in there. I created Config-T by accident, though it's highly likely I may have been inspired by it being mentioned here and just didn't realize it at the time.
never gave this mech love back in the day but seeing how it has remained useful thanks to that massive pod space......just impressive. also you gotta love the look!
Absolutely. Hard to deny the drawing power of all that room.
My second favorite mech next to the Kodiak. Glad to see this one.
*Clanner:* "Listen closely, this is the Timber Wolf, and this is the Mad Dog."
*Spheriod:* "Mad Cat and Vulture, got it."
*Clanner:* "..."
Battletech is long-lived, but Ea-Nasir jokes are eternal!
Truth.
I remember my first time jumping into a mechpod at a Jillians in Denver. The mech I picked was the "Vulture" (later learned it was called the Mad Dog).It felt satisfying when I rained down volleys and volleys of LRMs on the enemy mechs from a ridgeline. My brother was backing me up in his Hauptmann and just decimated the softened targets with an AC20.
The realization that led me to loving the Prime configuration is that Clan LRMs are some of the best SRMs in the game. Instead of trying to use them to wear down enemies at range or for fire support, I save them for crit hunting after the pulse lasers have punched some holes.
Dropping the LRM-20s to 15s and the Large pulses to ERs opens up quite a bit of tonnage for armor, ammo and heatsinks. That build in MW5: Clans has done the impossible, made me love the mech I considered one of the ugliest machines I've ever seen.
In High School my friends and I would play Mech Warrior 3 in one on one duels. Because I kept winning I (unknowingly at the time) did the Batchall thing and bid away a 15 ton advantage. They all were elated and talking about how they'll use the Timberwolf or Warhawk to finally crush me.
These games didn't just end when one player died. They would respawn and I had to keep fighting until they killed me. My mech of choice to answer their challenge? The Vulture
I ran a custom configuration that was loaded with
3x LRM 20s LT/RT/RT with 4 Tons of ammo
4x Flamers LA (My friends were always running energy heavy builds and barely controlling their heat lol)
5x ER Medium Lasers RA
remaining tonnage was given over to more Heatsinks.
I'd use extreme range to whittle them down with missiles, while using hills/buildings/ etc for cover. Once they got to medium range I'd pop out for shots with the lasers then run back to cover. At point blank I'd just hit them with flamers till they shut down. I think my record was 6 or 7 kills before they got me lol.
You work hard , and it is appreciated .
Thank you.
I gotta hand it to the designers, j adore the variant with a ton of SRM tubes. Its like duct taping a bunch of trench sweepers onto a giant robot of death.
It's just neat...
@@MechanicalFrog it could use more srms, though... ;)
Why do we love the Mad Dog? Because it let us build the Bushwacker.
Fair enough.
What a beautiful mech. And yes, Joanna absolutely needs her own video!
I've always liked the look of the Vulture, but MW4 really took it to another level. That intro cinematic was one of the best. The MWDA Vulture followed MW4's design with the chin lasers, and one of the things I appreciate most of the CGL refresh is the nod to that chin turret with the sensor pod thing.
The Vulture is the Clan Omnimech Archer, and in turn influenced the Bushwacker's long, narrow torso with an XL, as well as the Avatar (one of Kurita's first home-built Omnimechs). IIRC the MW4/MWDA Vulture has been reclassified as a Mk II or Mk III, with the II supposedly being mostly an aesthetic change (and possibly moving the medium lasers from the Prime into the CT) and the III making a full suite of configurations based on that new design aesthetic.
Have a look at the Mad Dog D. It is roughly contemporaneous to MW4. Ever since MW4 there has been a long effort to match the Mad Dog to the MW4 aesthetic. I prefer the sleeker original, but that is what we get.
The Vulture/Mad Dog in MW4 is said to be the Vulture/Mad Dog Mk II produced by the Ghost Bear Dominion
The Config C was a fun mech to use in MW3 when you had MFB's to re-arm you.
I always loved the cut away view of the Vulture on the cover of the one TRO book.
Plenty of great MD art.
The Mad Dog is one of those mechs that is living proof of the mystery of why there are not more clan 60 tonners. It fits the holy trinity of firepower, armor and speed for a heavy. We need more 60 tonners in the future.
My favorite variations are the F and a custom variation of the Prime I made in MWO. I took off the cLPL's for cMPL's, upgraded the cLRM 15 racks with Artemis IV and gave it much more needed LRM ammo tonnage. Love the balance of long range support while if any lights or mediums are stupid enough to get close, they get blasted by 4 cMPL's.
60 tons is a weird spot of being a heavy but 55's get almost all the same thing where as a 75 can be generally as fast with more armor and just as many weapons.
Should have been called the Archer IIC, and should have been a fire support mech.
But it wants to be so much more...
There is no firesupport among true clan warriors. it's a concept fit only for those unable to win a proper duel; it is a freebirth's job, and we will not let them use our shiny omnimechs for that.
;)
A huge YES to a Joanna video! Please!
It would be fun.
Considering how the Legends book treats her she definitely deserves a video.
next to the timby the Mad dog is definitly one of my favorite mechs
@T.ELE.GRAMMechanicalFrog like where?
That is a scam/bot account. Don't respond.
@@MechanicalFrog i figured.
I can't wait to run one of these on MW5 Clans!
Love the Mad Dog. Torso-mounted missile pods I just can't resist. Have one painted up for my Beta Galaxy Wolves.
I just remember seeing the intro to MW4 all those years ago and falling in love with the Mad Dog/Vulture in all its iterations
It has that classic beautiful look to it.
The A config is just SCARY to me.
MechWarrior2: Mercenaries. The Vulture/Mad Dog was my favorite. The Timberwolf was on the cover. I'm contrarian. I always end up siding with the counterpart to the main character. The play style of dropping missiles before running up and face stomping was a fun bit too. I'm still figuring out the rules and mechanics for the tabletop. Havent played that yet. Sounds like this will still be one of my favorites. And whichever one in MW3 looked like it was permanently crouched in a metal turtle shell.
My absolute favorite clan mech.
I loved using it in MWO because no one expects the missile boat way in the back to be packing so much teeth
heehh lspllottt
Me to 4 med pulse lasers and 6 tons of ammo on 2lrm artV 20's the thing is a monster in MWO
B config is the best tabletop config for the Mad Dog IMO: The 'mech itself has too little armor for much staying power in a fight, so it needs to either be fire support, or deal so much damage so fast that longevity isn't an issue. The Mad Dog B is the latter. This is a design you play aggressively with, the heat curve is actually phenomenal - you can risk a small overheat with the streaks thrown in (don't fire one ERLL) and if they don't hit, you're actually in the clear, you only overheat when things go your way, and if you overheat from infernos or whatever, you just mixup some combination of the medium pulse lasers and the streaks to get back in the green while still dealing serious damage.
The LRM20 at first glance seems bizarre - only has 6 shots, which looks really dumb at first, but not when you realize they aren't for long range fire support - Clan LRM's have no short range penalty; their best usage here comes from crit-seeking holes in an enemy 'mech's armor, in the Mad Dog B, its best in a backstab. This is a 'mech that you manuever into the rear arc of an enemy 'mech, break down the armor with the lasers and then and unleash so much missile/crit-seeking firepower that you kill or cripple a nearly pristine mech in 1 round.
If I can get a Mad Dog B into a proper brawl (and Inner Sphere players always want a brawl), it will reliably remove a mech every round or three, especially if you save it in reserve sniping with the ERLL's until enemy units have a few holes in their armor - say rounds 8-12; by round 16 it'll be dead or nearly dead, just like the entire lance it brawled with.
This variant exemplifies what a Clan brawler should be like - You play insanely aggressive, almost suicidal. It's a stark contrast to how most people play Clans, which is methodically maximizing movement modifiers and range brackets slowly whittling down Inner Sphere tonnage over the course of 20-30 rounds. Which is a playstyle that works, but really isn't fun. The Mad Dog B is the exact opposite of that. You get in a short range knife fight and everything starts dying.
In my experience playing with people, they have a lot more fun this way, both for them and for me - rounds end faster, stuff blows up more, and everyone feels like they're doing something interesting rather than being helplessly pinpricked for 80% of the game until they finally corner a Clan 'mech and kick it to death.
The MadDog is the perfect example of Clan mindset during the initial invasion. Overgunned, undersinked, and without enough armor. But the shock, awe and overwhelming aggression won them great gains initialy.
One of my favorite omnis. No, I am not nust saying that as a Ghost Bear.
Form and function.
Worth noting that even when the LRMs run dry, you're still capable of throwing PPC-level damage downrange every turn with a 5/8/0 movement profile (with improved accuracy mind you) and, if someone _dared_ to close distance you could bring both of the medium pulses into the mix. It would push you into the red by a fair bit, even standing still, but it's more damage than an Awesome and... that's terrifying from a mech that's the same weight-class as the Rifleman and the Dragon.
The mad dog looks as similar to the lupus as the hunchback does to the urbie.
Heh.
Mechwarrior 4 intro cinematic. That's why I love this mech.
Man I love the Vulture
I just finished painting a Zeta Galaxy Mad Dog for Jade Falcon. And got say heck of a mech to paint. Pure hell on the table against me.
I watch these ony my TV.. but dayum.. with headphones on PC. That beat just slaps like an AC20!
Ah the Vulture a great name for this nightmare. Another clan mech that forces me to actually think about playing them instead of the only true heroes of the IS. I loved that it had a 360 rotation of the torso in Mechwarrior 4 Mercs
I love this mech. It's the first clan design I ever fielded on tabletop and it was always a consistent performer for me. Hell, in the last game I had, my Mad Dog scored the only two mech kills of the match; a Fire Moth early game and a Timberwolf later.
The Mad Dog was the original favorite battlemech of mine way back when I played my dad's copy of MechWarrior 2 and saw that mech on the cover of Ghost Bear's Legacy.^^ (And despite being an Inner Sphere free-birth scum myself, I call it a "Mad Dog" instead of a "Vulture" because I like dogs more than birds. Batchall me...)
These days my now favorite mech is the MadCat MKII, with the Bull Shark being a close second. But based on how they look, you can kinda see a pattern as to why I like all of them so much.^^
I'm very happy to listen to a more in depth review of my OG favorite battlemech. Keep doing what you're doing Mechanical Frog, we love you for it.^^
I used to use a personal load out, four ER Large Lasers, two in each arm, and the side torsos (and everywhere else) packed with 12 extra Double Heat sinks (48 heat comp total).
4-4-3 firing sequence and this is the fastest moving pseudo-Awesome of the Clan Invasion era.
The Vulture/MadDog was my favorite Mech to use in MechAssault 1 and it's the most successful Mech in BattleTech, in the way of how many Clans were using them during the Clan Invasion
My favorite Mech
The Mad Dog A is all kinds of fun with those SRMs.
Yeah it'll be a friendship tester. "Time to roll the damage on 30 SRMs..."
The Mad Dog is my favorite mech, and one of the first mechs that introduced me to the setting.
Story time.
Back in the early 90s there was this silly little DOS game called Megatron (not to be confused with the Decepticon leader), which featured two mechs """borrowed""" from Battletech: the Vulture and Mad Cat. It was a simple 3D maze game with the objective of finding and blowing up the opponent with lasers & missiles before they did the same to you. Of the two, I always preferred the design of the Vulture and picked that one to play as.
Fast forward a couple of years and a little game comes out, called Mechwarrior 2: 31st Century Combat. Although the Timber Wolf was featured prominently on the box art, in the training mode it's the Mad Dog that greets you first (with the gruff instructor piloting it and constantly berrating you). And at the very end of training, you're given a Mad Dog yourself for your Trial of Position.
So the Mad Dog is the mech that earned you the respect of your instructor, and the title of Mechwarrior. That, combined with its iconic design, pretty much cemented it as my favorite.
I would always end up replacing the launchers for LRM-15s to add extra ammo and better heat management, along with some jump jets for mobility. It was dangerous at all ranges even against Assaults.
Taking the Prime config and letting the Mechtechs get their grubby hands on it, Downgrading the Large Pulse Lasers to Mediums, and using the leftover tonnage for more ammunition seems like a no-brainer.
One of the most basic and effective mechs of the Clan invasion. Deadly and Simple.
When the Mad Dog barks, the Inner Sphere listens. I think I'll use the MF variant on my father tomorrow on the tabletop. Keep up the great work!
As a Mechcommander enjoyer, the Mad Dog was a go to mech pretty much as soon as it was salvaged. Tons of weapon space, fast and light. A great lance mate for the Timber Wolf you spent hours trying to salvage at the beginning of the game.
As a side note, heavy lasers were amazing weapons in Mechcommander 2. I would load up Blood Asps with heavy large lasers and just delete mechs.
The Mad Dog's a superb 'mech, its iconic and its configs and various models make it a real swiss army knife of a 'mech with a weapon for every role.
Came for the video. Stayed for the humour... especially the Ea-nāṣir reference.
I will always remember that first mission in MW2 where you pilot a Mad Dog in the desert. I can't remember if it was the JF or Wolf campaign. I think the end goal was to scan the enemy dropship after eliminating all enemy mechs. Talk about nostalgia.
Such a beautiful mech. Thanks Frog.
My pleasure!
The Mad Dog is pretty much the introduction of Pulse Lasers. Its the only first-gen Clan Mech that had them in the prime configuration.
Its got the usual flaws of the first-gen(not enough ammo, armor, heat sinks), but its fun.
It was on the cover of Mechwarrior 2 Ghost Bear's Legacy.
Its got several successors of various qualities.
The Mad Mod/Vulture MK II is kind of a black sheep. It was a model redesign around the early 2000s where the medium pulse lasers were moved to a chin rack. I also remember a 75ton version in the MekTek mod for Mechwarrior 4. That version had Gauss Rifles.
The Mad Dog Mk III downgrades the pulse lasers to get 80 long range missile tubes on a 60ton design, more than the LRM Carrier has.
The Mad Dog Mk IV is a Dark Age design with some new technology, but its much more of a brawler, downgrading to Short Range missiles even if it has 24 tubes.
My favorite Mod is 6x SRM-6 Streaks and 3 ER Micro Pulse. I based this off of the Vulture Prime from the BattleTech Center Pods.
This has been one of my favorite mechs since I first laid eyes on it. Easily a top 10 in terms of looks and I do enjoy many of its configurations.
I took a Mad Dog D in one of Catalyst's GenCon tournaments. I gutted a Kodiak knocked out a Stalker II before I lost my ATM launchers...fun times
glad to hear that.
One of the Mechs starring in Battletech game intros nearly as much as the Mad Cat / Timberwolf
The primary config is two mechs in one, it's a missile boat until they run out then it becomes an accurate sniper.
Good times had by all.
The Mad Dog. AKA, the Budget Timberwolf. AKA, hell's hottest bastard when I load this thing up with ATMs, a few tons of ammo, ER Small lasers, and a prayer. You aren't everyone's favorite mech, but for a medium-speed striker lance, you're one of my first picks.
You really had me wondering what Ea Nasir had to do with the Vulture for a second there
Well, you see... it's a bit of a long story.
Lovin the vulture techno at the beginning
Still love my personal config. x4 LRM20s in the sides, x2 HMGs in the arms, x2 Mpulse lasers in the CT, with "directional torso mount" for the Mpulse in the CT. That absolute fucking hero in the intro of MW4 Vengeance just always stuck with me. Whole company gets smoked before they're out of the hangars, gets to the lines and finds there's like, 2 Devastators, an Uziel, and fuck knows what else, and his first choice is "Fuck it we ball" and lets rip with an alpha strike. 80 Clan LRMs is no joke, but neither is the heat that punches out.
Oh baby Vulture Time!
I think I always just liked the look of it. Practically speaking it fits in to a mid to long range role quite nicely, in MW5 with some mods I have one set up to use 2 Streak LRM 10's and 8 ER Medium lasers. For the video game this is pretty reasonable but I doubt it would work on the table-top as nicely.
I'm looking forward to using the MF configuration. I think my players aren't gonna know what to expect from it LO. L.