I’ve always liked this mech in narrative campaigns. It can mass up dangerous amounts of firepower when deployed in groups, and can typically survive long enough to fade away.
Me and my best friend are playing Battletech 2018 co-op. He is a veteran of tabletop BT and his experience is invaluable. He adviced to hunt for Panthers and for the first stretch of the campaign they carried us. We had sometimes field full lance of nothing, but differently kitted Panthers. Even as we farmed heavier mediums and a lot of LosTec guns, we still have a Panther with three medium lasers and LRM15 as a heavy scout/harasser. They are the Shermans of Battletech.
Honestly the Panther sounds like a Light pilot's dream You're either providing fire support with the PPC or your hidding and fading with the SRMs Never in direct combat, and never scouting way behind enemy lines with no support or escape route. Just a simple, easy out of the way job. And if you get a lucky headshot with that PPC you could bag a heavy or even assault mech and maybe get a bunch of medals pinned on your chest for doing it.
A refit of the Panther I came up with is one I like to call the "Gunslinger". It has a 5/8/5 movement profile with a standard engine, light ferro-fibrous armor, endo-steel, and ten double heat sinks. It's armed with two light PPCs equipped with PPC capacitors and two medium pulse lasers for engaging stuff that tries to get in your face.
In early 2018 Battletech I tend to drop two of these things in almost every early mission. One standard Panther 9R and another one armed with a large laser, a medium laser, and a SRM6 to bring a not insignificant amount of alpha strike that can be used twice before something far larger can react if you don't mind the heat. You might have to back off and let the mech cool down while taking potshots with the missiles or medium after that double alpha strike but it is a loadout that brings that knife to the side of an already softened target. The biggest downside it has is making me wish I could have a Wolfhound for the task instead even though their damage profiles would be almost identical.
Actually, both Vindicator & Panther run at the same speed & just as durable by default. Then again, a "mini-medium" Panthers are technically a Combine's Vindicator - as a workhorse mechs
For me it is because they are the only light mech that survived more than one contract when I played a long MegaMek campaign. Also because it is easy to give them callsigns from the names of black cats my friends have. Yolanda, Mister Beans, Tux, and Gunther are a terrifying force when working together.
As someone who likes to play as a FedRat or space vikings, I do have love for Mechs the Combine likes to field. Hunchbacks, Panthers and Dragons, oh my. Maybe a Hatamoto-Chi if there's something left to salvage. Also tell Mrs. Frog we appreciate her being patient with your foray into being a ComStar creator for us. Getting to watch Battletech creators grow and improve over these last several years has been a treat.
i love him because his weapons mean you have to deal with him, and his durability ensures you have to dedicate some geniune fire power to killing it. once had a panther survive almost an entire game on the front lines brawling with heavy and assault mechs
Why do we love the Panther? It's the lightest of trooper mechs. it's got a little something for everyone. It's what the Capellans were improving on with the Vindicator. While it's slow for it's weight, it's sidekick the Jenner goes zoom. Also partners well with the Valkyrie if someone gets captured. And as much as I love the Urbanmech and believe it is a wonderfully unique machine and an amazing storytelling device, I'll take an Alley Cat for the urban guardian role every day. And I'd like to think that the Bears rebuilt the ones they captured, both 10K and 9R- DHS, Clantech ER PPC or LPL (arguments for either) with a co-ax IS small laser and half a ton more armour, along with the origional SRM-4, you get a faster, stronger, more versatile Cat in the city, jungle or mountains.
Panther has a place in any lance; either as the 'heavy' of a scout lance, as a cheap fire support mech in a medium lance, or as a bodyguard in an assault lance. It eschews the usual fast-backstabber buildtype of a light mech (itself optimized in Panther's best friends Jenner and Locust) in favor of being the lightest PPC carrier mech and the smallest mech to mount the classic PPC & SRM combo (ex. Thug).
One of my favorite light mechs. A nice, affordable, direct fire support platform. The stock variant is pretty solid, and it's super easy to upgrade too. My succession wars "bodyguard" variant loses the jump jets for extra armor and 2 extra SRM tubes. My late age variant uses DHS, an ERPPC, and a MML5.
That iconic look. The fact it looks so badass, not to mention the redesign by Piranha. But then again it always looked cool with that feline aesthetic. When Im done with the Kurita contract in my campaing I'm gonna employ a bunch of them. Just to show my players how good this 35 tonner really is.
Panther pilots seeing a lance of fire support assault mechs: Barbeque! Same Panther pilots after seeing the lance of Wolfhounds guarding the assault mechs: don't make any sudden movements, and back away slow... Shit! They saw us! Run away!
I love this little guy! One of my more memorable games involved my Panther headshotting a Battlemaster with it's first PPC shot of the game, and then later going on to blow the leg off of a Dragon and subsequently destroy it with another PPC shot to the back armor which cooked off the ammo. In a game where my lance also included a 3D Crusader and a 6M Wolverine, it was the Panther that proved to be the heaviest hitter!
It's hard for light mechs to get 10 armor all in one place, so the PPC/SRM4 combination is a one-salvo threat for breach and crit-seeking on peer targets... and it comes in a very easy package to put on the field in large numbers.
As much as I love the Urbanmech in it's intended role (and as a story telling device), the Alley Cat does the urban defense job better. And it partners well with a captured Valk, along with it's intended buddy the Jenner. The only thing the 3025 version needs is DHS, don't need the endo. And then you can drop to 11 DHS, add a small laser (for THAT guy), CASE and a ton of armour, then might as well add the ER PPC. In cities, mountains and jungles, it works better than the Steiner Puppymech that demands to be the Panther's arch-nemesis. And Liao respected it enough to improve on it with the Vindicator- this is the mini version. There should be no reason to reason to not love the lightest trooper. I"m willing to bet that even the Bears rebuilt the FRR PNTs that were captured.
One wonders why the Snakes never did ECM or sensor equiped variants by droping the SRM for an M-Laser (keep some close range firepower) a Beagle or Guardian and either a small laser or some extra armor. The Panther is a city defender and partisan/stay behind unit so having those should be useful. And they are not opposed to electronics. Or replace the SRM with twin flamers and an M-Laser for a nice "fried infantry with rice" variant
My first game of Battletech featured an Orion-K and the OG Panther. The Orion died but the Panther was able to briefly duel with a Fire starter and tired to light its rear armor up with a jump jet maneuver. It’s a nice little machine and something I’m partial to using regularly, if I was able to play regularly.
Why do we love the Panther? It just looks cool. Apart from that one later design. It's a completely reasonable 'light-medium' mech that can do work with the right friends around it.
Did a couple of Panther variants myself, lol. For the first, the PNT-RPR "Ripper," I gave it a 140 Light engine to keep the 4/5/4 movement profile. Switched it over to 10 DHS and gave it 6 tons of Hardened armor. For weapons, it carries a pair of Light AC/5s in the right arm with 2 tons of CASE protected ammo in the right torso. Backing it up are 4 ER small lasers, 2 each in the center torso and left arm. It's meant to engage armor and battle armor forces, though since it can use specialty ammo.... My second variant is the PNT-BLK "Black." Like the "Ripper," it has a Light engine and the same 4/5/4 movement, but it has TSM and 6.5 tons of Hardened armor. 10 DHS allow its weapons load to activate the TSM. On the right arm it has a large re-engineered laser, while the left arm carries 2 medium re-engineered lasers. Finally, a pair of emotional support ER small lasers can be found in the center torso.
I think the simple answer is that people love the panther because it fits neatly into the "how small of a mech can we fit this big weapon on?" category. In that regard it's a lot like the hollander with a gauss rifle or even an urbanmech with an AC20. It's a cheap way to field a big gun, which does the same damage whether it's mounted on a light mech or an assault. Personally, I wouldn't be bothering with an SRM4. Sure, it'll get a bunch of volleys out of a ton but on a 35 tonner I'd rather have more armor, more speed or more heatsinks to keep that PPC pumping out lightning. His custom loadout at the end is a pretty good one overall.
This is one of my favorite mechs, I normally replace the PPC with a clan one, a Plasma rifle or a Blazer and remove the SRM for a GECM and 3ERsmall lasers also in the right arm... Also add more DHS and JJ to it. Many mechs are headshot by this thing.
The the 10K2 is my pick for a post 3070s meat and potatoes “every Kuritan company probably has one” panther. It has enough heat sinks to jump and shoot even at short ranges but I could probably argue for dropping one heat sink for an extra ton of armor or a second ammo bay to “pacify” some ghost bear elementals with infernos or tandom charge SRMs.
Most newbie mechwarriors when spotting a Panther for the first time and seeing the stats come up on their display: "Seriously?! A 35 tonner that can barely move 65KPH? Who thought this was a good idea?" (Panther proceeds to core through the armor with it's PPC, then exploits for critical hits with it's SRM 4, then jumps away.) Newbie: "Uhhh."
I absolutely love the PNT-9ALAG variant. Losing the jump jets can hurt sometimes, but the 5/8 movement profile allowing it to keep up with the DRG-1G and DRG-1N, plus the other 5/8 55 ton mediums and 60 heavies makes that my preferred light mech in 3025 games.
The ALAG is my favorite too. I feel at least in my hands the Panther is almost never in situations that require the middling jumpjets but frequently in situations that require a 5/8 move. Overall the 5/8 move just fits the profile of the Panther better in my opinion.
I love the Panther, it is reasonably urbanmech. a fantastic urban combatant with a 4/6/5 movement profile thanks to the nimble jumper quirk, and a ppc instead of a heavy ac10. Where the Centurion feels like a pocket heavy this feels like a medium due to its slower speed and the bigger lumps of damage a ppc dishes out. before this even starts I suspect you are all over the 13k because having a 9 hex radius + plasma rifle range radius of "you could suddenly gain tons of heat" is a really wide zone. I am tempted to toss the plasma rifle to have a clan grade erppc to not have to worry about ammo.
Ah, the Panther. Such a good little trooper. I actually have a theory that someone was reviewing old specs for the Gladiator (the Primitive) when designing the Panther. There's some similarity between the loadout that could easily be explained as "inspiration". If you'll permit, I'd like to tell you about my experience with the Panther. Not being able to play TT much at all, since that would require excess cash and friends, I only have the videogames to go off of. My first experience (since it didn't appear in MW4 or MC) was from MechWarrior Tactics. Yeah, anyone remember that mess of a game? Anyway, you opened packs to get cards, which consisted of Mechs and equipment, etc. I managed to pull an uncommon Panther and a VERY high quality PPC. In my matches, that thing would sit on high ground and make shot after shot while everything else bumbled around in the brawl below. It may not have been a great introduction to a Mech, but it endeared me to the solid design. My next encounter was in MWO. They finally released the Panther and it... didn't perform well. People dropped it immediately, but I got... creative. In a match, most heavies will disregard a Panther sneaking past the firing lines if there's something bigger to shoot at. They tend to regret that once you show up in their rear arc with two large pulses. There's a lot you can say about Panthers. It really just all boils down to: they're reliable.
Funny MWO story, my heavily customized Crab-27b (FF armor, DHS, Light fusion engine that got it to 102KPH, Two light PPCs,two ER Mediums,two ER Smalls and an AMS with 1 ton of ammo) turned a corner while on a flanking maneuver and came face to face with a Panther set up for long range combat (ERPPC and an LRM rack and was decently fast). Considering how much of a disadvantage that Panther was at it put up quite a fight in that impromptu duel. It seems we were both rather unimportant to the mechs in our area of the map as we were completely undisturbed for our whole fight. It was quite a fun fight,just two oddball builds throwing down at the edges of a clash of larger mechs.
The Panther is an oddball. It functions far more like a small medium than a large light. It's a wonderful bodyguard for medium battleline 'mechs like the Centurion. But I think it's lack of speed really handicaps it's inclusion in a lance of lighter 'mechs. Basically, a light battleline 'mech, not a strike or recon 'mech. Which is fair, considering how many light mediums function more like oversize lights, and the massive pressure put on most light mechs by the existence of the Phoenix Hawk.
I've gotta go through and try to recreate the Panther I made for my son. It's a 5/8/6 (thank you, partial wing) with a Light PPC in the CT, a Light PPC with Capacitor in the right arm, and MML-5 with two tons of ammo, and an ER Flamer in the left arm.
i really like the Panther in 3025, but i wish more of the upgrades upped the mobility rather than keeping it at 4/6/4 the 13K's perhaps a step in the right direction, but way too drastic-something like the MF variant officially would be quite nice
Why do we love the Panther? Because it's a light 'mech that even Assault 'mechs have to acknowledge. It's a great little support light and works well as a long-range sniper. Just avoid the PNT-10K. Without double heat sinks it's a nightmare to manage the heat from that ER PPC.
Because nothing beats a cheap durable line mech. It can halt a medium or light heavy long enough to matter, and you can afford more of them than the opposition can any superior option.
The 8Z large laser Panther not being more available makes me sad if only because it has the exact statline my unit choice tends to optimize to, and then I see it's not available for the faction locked clan invasion AS tournament :(. I love my Panther it has cat ears and a tail
Playing a PNT-16K in a campaign run be a Catlyst Demo Agent at the moment. I kind of would like to downgrade the streak SRM-4 launchers to standard variants and put more armor on it. I've been using it as bait to keep elementals off the main force. Recovered/stole it from the DCMS dropship myself and the other players were in as prisoners before it crashed. I've been having a hard time hitting the fire moths that have been carrying the elementals in though. Our OpFor is the Raven Alliance, who pulled out a damn Blood Asp T on us on our second outing. Gets a bit annoying when other players call me out for "not being in a fire support mech" when that's what an ER PPC is for. Armor's a bit thin though, but that's what I get for bringing the lightest mech in the unit when most range around 50 tons.
@MechanicalFrog this is a pretty crazy amount of variants... I had no idea. I mean the year for the 13k is definitely beyond my usual range but still. This is *wild*
Honestly, even in the high-tech power-gaming wonderlands of the 32nd century, the classic Panther is a good investment, especially if you bring a couple of them. Just enough firepower that you can't ignore it, just enough armor and agility that you have to dump more weapons than you'd like into taking it down. Even when it's not a serious threat, it's damn annoying.
In my MegaMek campaign, I have a "Lance" of 11 Panthers. I've been lucky enough to have had quite a few contracts against the DCMS. Yes, I turned off the lance size restriction, but I still have the weight restriction turned on. My company has, usually, 2 or 3 being repaired at any given moment during contracts and up to 6 mothballed. And sometimes I completely break down some, just to have spare parts.
Hello Frog. In the early days of the game, 1984 through around 1990, I purely HATED the Panther. At that time, I was a Davion based player, and often faced full lances, dual lances, and even a full-up company of Panthers. To combat this penchant of the Kurita players to overuse the Panthers at their disposal, I decided to play the same 'game' they did, but substituted Locusts. A player would announce the combat value of his Company and I would field that same value as a reinforced company of Locusts. Not just any Locusts however. All my Mechs were the variant that removed other weaponry to add a 2nd medium laser, or a 2nd and even a 3rd medium laser. This led to a hue and cry about the 'unfairness' of it all. And my response was: 'You have all Panthers with PPCs. I just have little Locusts with medium lasers. When they complained to the playing group at large, they were laughed at and told to either field mixed lances, or they would continue to see Mono Design Companies in their future. It only took a few games where others fielded 'companies' of things like all Phoenix Hawks, for the Kurita players to start mixing in other Mech designs. Until then, I was greatly delighted to use my speed advantage to the fullest. Backstabbing my way through company after company of Panthers. The Panther, for the era (3025) was not a 'bad' Mech. And it got better over time, with the advancement of technology in the game, as you have pointed out in your video. All, in all, I no longer detest the Panther... since I have formulated multiple ways to deal with 'floods' of them at my doorstep.
Whenever I get slammed by a ppc from a particularly dirty angle while playing mw5 I just know it's some cocky giggleshit in a Panther. They really are the Halo Wars Gauss Hog of Battletech
PNT-10K may have been due to lack of double heat sinks at the time, but it can work as part of a Panther lance. 1 PNT-10K hits further than rest of the lance, while PNT-9Rs in the same lance provide bulk of the firepowerr.
In my 3025 era games, i like to switch out the ppc for a large laser and the srms for a lrm 10. Similar heat but now the large laser is your close support weapon...
The -10KA downgrade to the stock PPC worked out before the end of 3055, as the new No-Dachi, mounting TSM and a sword. needed a quick way to warm up for its inevitable brawl as it closed with the enemy
Awesome, I was just playing Battletech with the Revised mod last night and had my commander's head blown off by a Panther's PPC. I've been wanting to run a whole lance of them.
You know one thing that I always kind of hated that the video games didn't really portray, get a full lance of these things or a reinforced Lance and the moment that they managed to separate you and start focusing fire on one thing and you might as well be fighting an awesome if you're only using the more common mechs that normally are more lightly armed or have smaller guns in larger quantities
![ลองสุ่มไอโฟน 990 โกงมั้ย? [ โกงมั้ยครับ ep.101 ] | DOM](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/bfsWe0j492k/mqdefault.jpg)
The most dangerous part of meeting a Panther is the several other Panthers showing up alongside the first one.
Pack hunters. Of course.
Japanese cover of "X gonna give it to ya" intensifies, as four Panthers team on FedRat mech to take it's lunch money.
@@andreykuzmin4317 it's all fun until the Blue shield assaults roll in and the wolfhounds encircle you
@andreykuzmin4317 that even funnier if it's a x pulse laser
Not in Warrior En Garde. Panthers fell by the dozen.
"Why do we love [insert Inner Sphere 'mech]?"
Cause it works.
That it does...
@@MechanicalFrog Like the Urbie. Good old Urbanmech. I put a longtom on mine and made it good.
Cause it's Simple As, which as the clanners found out can kill you
@@jeremyvandijk3428 the clans have a few of those too
Why?
Do we love the Havoc
As a proud Lyran, I can confirm that there are many ways to skin an Alley Cat. The trick is making sure it doesn't skin you first.
I’ve always liked this mech in narrative campaigns. It can mass up dangerous amounts of firepower when deployed in groups, and can typically survive long enough to fade away.
Just dangerous enough to be a problem. Not quite dangerous enough that it gets focus fired first.
Me and my best friend are playing Battletech 2018 co-op. He is a veteran of tabletop BT and his experience is invaluable. He adviced to hunt for Panthers and for the first stretch of the campaign they carried us. We had sometimes field full lance of nothing, but differently kitted Panthers. Even as we farmed heavier mediums and a lot of LosTec guns, we still have a Panther with three medium lasers and LRM15 as a heavy scout/harasser. They are the Shermans of Battletech.
They're really good in HBS Battletech until you can get a Phoenix Hawk lance up and running. :D
@@MechanicalFrog PHOENIX HAWK MENTIONED 🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅🦅
Nah, the Shermans are the Hunchbacks. Heavily armoured with specialized models that can do everything in existence
Welcome to the Mustered Soldiery frog. Tea time is at 11am, and your Kimono fitting will be on Tuesday. Now question....Jenner or Panther?
Jenner has the swag. Panther has the Zap. Tough call.
Honestly the Panther sounds like a Light pilot's dream
You're either providing fire support with the PPC or your hidding and fading with the SRMs
Never in direct combat, and never scouting way behind enemy lines with no support or escape route. Just a simple, easy out of the way job. And if you get a lucky headshot with that PPC you could bag a heavy or even assault mech and maybe get a bunch of medals pinned on your chest for doing it.
A mech of many virtues.
A refit of the Panther I came up with is one I like to call the "Gunslinger". It has a 5/8/5 movement profile with a standard engine, light ferro-fibrous armor, endo-steel, and ten double heat sinks. It's armed with two light PPCs equipped with PPC capacitors and two medium pulse lasers for engaging stuff that tries to get in your face.
Reminds me of Tetsuhara's old mech, the "Katana Kat." that one had two standard PPCs.
@@stormsurge2103 Not in the lore, that's purely a video game thing
Imagine a Capellan Confederation Locust swarm. Now imagine all of those disposal 'Mechs are armed with PPC's. This is how a Panther do.
Me in MW5 Clans seeing a full company of Panthers in my Timber Wolf:
YES. YEEEEESSSSSSSS
@@thomasgiles2876 I can't wait
*Raises fist* Our battle will be legendary!
That's until you see COMSTAR and they throw heavier stuff at you and curb stomp you so bad you realize maybe we should not fight that way anymore.
What's not to love about a durable (and adorable) light mech, and that PPC can be a real threat to larger mechs.
A ppc from a panther can theoretically pop a cockpit off an Atlas.
Just as much firepower as a Vendor and harder to hit. (bonus: also saves you a pile of spacebucks)
Well put.
In early 2018 Battletech I tend to drop two of these things in almost every early mission. One standard Panther 9R and another one armed with a large laser, a medium laser, and a SRM6 to bring a not insignificant amount of alpha strike that can be used twice before something far larger can react if you don't mind the heat.
You might have to back off and let the mech cool down while taking potshots with the missiles or medium after that double alpha strike but it is a loadout that brings that knife to the side of an already softened target.
The biggest downside it has is making me wish I could have a Wolfhound for the task instead even though their damage profiles would be almost identical.
It may not be as fast as a Vindicator, but it feels so much tougher.
I think the difference is the addition of the cat ears.
@@MechanicalFrog Please, don't ruin our big, stompy robots.
Actually, both Vindicator & Panther run at the same speed & just as durable by default. Then again, a "mini-medium" Panthers are technically a Combine's Vindicator - as a workhorse mechs
@@Darren_Xero You're right, I keep forgetting I'm so used to the AA "Avenging Angel" Vindicator variant that I forget it's not the default.
For me it is because they are the only light mech that survived more than one contract when I played a long MegaMek campaign.
Also because it is easy to give them callsigns from the names of black cats my friends have. Yolanda, Mister Beans, Tux, and Gunther are a terrifying force when working together.
Mister Beans should not be underestimated.
As someone who likes to play as a FedRat or space vikings, I do have love for Mechs the Combine likes to field. Hunchbacks, Panthers and Dragons, oh my. Maybe a Hatamoto-Chi if there's something left to salvage.
Also tell Mrs. Frog we appreciate her being patient with your foray into being a ComStar creator for us. Getting to watch Battletech creators grow and improve over these last several years has been a treat.
i love him because his weapons mean you have to deal with him, and his durability ensures you have to dedicate some geniune fire power to killing it. once had a panther survive almost an entire game on the front lines brawling with heavy and assault mechs
I like how the 8Z got cancelled not because it was bad but because the specific large laser was dogwater
Throwing the baby out with the large laser... story as old as time.
Why do we love the Panther? It's the lightest of trooper mechs. it's got a little something for everyone. It's what the Capellans were improving on with the Vindicator. While it's slow for it's weight, it's sidekick the Jenner goes zoom. Also partners well with the Valkyrie if someone gets captured. And as much as I love the Urbanmech and believe it is a wonderfully unique machine and an amazing storytelling device, I'll take an Alley Cat for the urban guardian role every day. And I'd like to think that the Bears rebuilt the ones they captured, both 10K and 9R- DHS, Clantech ER PPC or LPL (arguments for either) with a co-ax IS small laser and half a ton more armour, along with the origional SRM-4, you get a faster, stronger, more versatile Cat in the city, jungle or mountains.
Panther has a place in any lance; either as the 'heavy' of a scout lance, as a cheap fire support mech in a medium lance, or as a bodyguard in an assault lance. It eschews the usual fast-backstabber buildtype of a light mech (itself optimized in Panther's best friends Jenner and Locust) in favor of being the lightest PPC carrier mech and the smallest mech to mount the classic PPC & SRM combo (ex. Thug).
One of my favorite light mechs. A nice, affordable, direct fire support platform. The stock variant is pretty solid, and it's super easy to upgrade too. My succession wars "bodyguard" variant loses the jump jets for extra armor and 2 extra SRM tubes. My late age variant uses DHS, an ERPPC, and a MML5.
That iconic look. The fact it looks so badass, not to mention the redesign by Piranha. But then again it always looked cool with that feline aesthetic. When Im done with the Kurita contract in my campaing I'm gonna employ a bunch of them. Just to show my players how good this 35 tonner really is.
Panther pilots seeing a lance of fire support assault mechs: Barbeque!
Same Panther pilots after seeing the lance of Wolfhounds guarding the assault mechs: don't make any sudden movements, and back away slow... Shit! They saw us! Run away!
Flee! Fleeeeee!
@@MechanicalFrog right, Frog, how's the DCMS boot camp treating you?🤣
I love this little guy! One of my more memorable games involved my Panther headshotting a Battlemaster with it's first PPC shot of the game, and then later going on to blow the leg off of a Dragon and subsequently destroy it with another PPC shot to the back armor which cooked off the ammo. In a game where my lance also included a 3D Crusader and a 6M Wolverine, it was the Panther that proved to be the heaviest hitter!
Rough day to be the BattleMaster...
I suspect the SRMs on a long range mech is because of Kurita’s obsession with the Thug.
For me this mech was always a prelude to the Vindicator.
Another solid mech. Good company.
It's hard for light mechs to get 10 armor all in one place, so the PPC/SRM4 combination is a one-salvo threat for breach and crit-seeking on peer targets... and it comes in a very easy package to put on the field in large numbers.
Absolutely.
Another old reliable, and a stylish one at that.
It'll do what is asked of it.
@@MechanicalFrog unless you misunderstood the situation and asked too much
After MW/CGL redesign the Panther's look is now a micro-Highlander wearing a cute cat head hat.
It has its charm.
Alshain: "The -8Z's large laser is too hot. Let's replace it with a PPC and drop a heat sink!"
Couldn't have just found a less cruddy large laser, I suppose.
The Panther vs the Wolfhound is always one of my favourite matchups
Two go in, one comes out... sometimes none come out.
I start out mw5 with the panther as my go to light mech until a wolfhound comes on the market .
As much as I love the Urbanmech in it's intended role (and as a story telling device), the Alley Cat does the urban defense job better. And it partners well with a captured Valk, along with it's intended buddy the Jenner. The only thing the 3025 version needs is DHS, don't need the endo. And then you can drop to 11 DHS, add a small laser (for THAT guy), CASE and a ton of armour, then might as well add the ER PPC. In cities, mountains and jungles, it works better than the Steiner Puppymech that demands to be the Panther's arch-nemesis. And Liao respected it enough to improve on it with the Vindicator- this is the mini version. There should be no reason to reason to not love the lightest trooper. I"m willing to bet that even the Bears rebuilt the FRR PNTs that were captured.
In the old pre-clans game it was what the Hollander is now.
The Panther is the quintessential "I just started a new game and I want a PPC platform" mech
Why do we love the panther?
Draconis Combine: “Heh heh….kitty mech go pew”
Technically, they go ZAP! :D
One wonders why the Snakes never did ECM or sensor equiped variants by droping the SRM for an M-Laser (keep some close range firepower) a Beagle or Guardian and either a small laser or some extra armor. The Panther is a city defender and partisan/stay behind unit so having those should be useful. And they are not opposed to electronics.
Or replace the SRM with twin flamers and an M-Laser for a nice "fried infantry with rice" variant
My first game of Battletech featured an Orion-K and the OG Panther. The Orion died but the Panther was able to briefly duel with a Fire starter and tired to light its rear armor up with a jump jet maneuver. It’s a nice little machine and something I’m partial to using regularly, if I was able to play regularly.
Why do we love the Panther? It just looks cool. Apart from that one later design. It's a completely reasonable 'light-medium' mech that can do work with the right friends around it.
Fair enough.
*Avenge ME~~* cracked me up way too hard lol
Did a couple of Panther variants myself, lol.
For the first, the PNT-RPR "Ripper," I gave it a 140 Light engine to keep the 4/5/4 movement profile. Switched it over to 10 DHS and gave it 6 tons of Hardened armor. For weapons, it carries a pair of Light AC/5s in the right arm with 2 tons of CASE protected ammo in the right torso. Backing it up are 4 ER small lasers, 2 each in the center torso and left arm. It's meant to engage armor and battle armor forces, though since it can use specialty ammo....
My second variant is the PNT-BLK "Black." Like the "Ripper," it has a Light engine and the same 4/5/4 movement, but it has TSM and 6.5 tons of Hardened armor. 10 DHS allow its weapons load to activate the TSM. On the right arm it has a large re-engineered laser, while the left arm carries 2 medium re-engineered lasers. Finally, a pair of emotional support ER small lasers can be found in the center torso.
I think the simple answer is that people love the panther because it fits neatly into the "how small of a mech can we fit this big weapon on?" category. In that regard it's a lot like the hollander with a gauss rifle or even an urbanmech with an AC20. It's a cheap way to field a big gun, which does the same damage whether it's mounted on a light mech or an assault.
Personally, I wouldn't be bothering with an SRM4. Sure, it'll get a bunch of volleys out of a ton but on a 35 tonner I'd rather have more armor, more speed or more heatsinks to keep that PPC pumping out lightning. His custom loadout at the end is a pretty good one overall.
Love your work Mech Frog! Keep doing what you're doing.
Thanks a ton!
This is one of my favorite mechs, I normally replace the PPC with a clan one, a Plasma rifle or a Blazer and remove the SRM for a GECM and 3ERsmall lasers also in the right arm... Also add more DHS and JJ to it. Many mechs are headshot by this thing.
Still wanting a HPPC Panther. So much fun.
I enjoy all of Mechanical Frog videos 🎉
Thank you!
The the 10K2 is my pick for a post 3070s meat and potatoes “every Kuritan company probably has one” panther. It has enough heat sinks to jump and shoot even at short ranges but I could probably argue for dropping one heat sink for an extra ton of armor or a second ammo bay to “pacify” some ghost bear elementals with infernos or tandom charge SRMs.
Most newbie mechwarriors when spotting a Panther for the first time and seeing the stats come up on their display: "Seriously?! A 35 tonner that can barely move 65KPH? Who thought this was a good idea?"
(Panther proceeds to core through the armor with it's PPC, then exploits for critical hits with it's SRM 4, then jumps away.)
Newbie: "Uhhh."
Watched this with my two housepanthers Jinx & Lucky.
Spicy.
@@MechanicalFrog Lucky is SO spicy.
I absolutely love the PNT-9ALAG variant.
Losing the jump jets can hurt sometimes, but the 5/8 movement profile allowing it to keep up with the DRG-1G and DRG-1N, plus the other 5/8 55 ton mediums and 60 heavies makes that my preferred light mech in 3025 games.
It hurts me too much to yank the JJs.
The ALAG is my favorite too. I feel at least in my hands the Panther is almost never in situations that require the middling jumpjets but frequently in situations that require a 5/8 move. Overall the 5/8 move just fits the profile of the Panther better in my opinion.
I love the Panther, it is reasonably urbanmech. a fantastic urban combatant with a 4/6/5 movement profile thanks to the nimble jumper quirk, and a ppc instead of a heavy ac10. Where the Centurion feels like a pocket heavy this feels like a medium due to its slower speed and the bigger lumps of damage a ppc dishes out. before this even starts I suspect you are all over the 13k because having a 9 hex radius + plasma rifle range radius of "you could suddenly gain tons of heat" is a really wide zone. I am tempted to toss the plasma rifle to have a clan grade erppc to not have to worry about ammo.
I'm glad you did a panther with a light park cannon that has become my absolute favorite weapon.Give it a capacitor and it becomes perfection
Zap.... BIG ZAP!
Because it is hard to beat as a cheap line mech for its cost and it pairs well with the Jenner?
All quite true.
Ah, the Panther. Such a good little trooper.
I actually have a theory that someone was reviewing old specs for the Gladiator (the Primitive) when designing the Panther. There's some similarity between the loadout that could easily be explained as "inspiration".
If you'll permit, I'd like to tell you about my experience with the Panther. Not being able to play TT much at all, since that would require excess cash and friends, I only have the videogames to go off of. My first experience (since it didn't appear in MW4 or MC) was from MechWarrior Tactics. Yeah, anyone remember that mess of a game? Anyway, you opened packs to get cards, which consisted of Mechs and equipment, etc. I managed to pull an uncommon Panther and a VERY high quality PPC. In my matches, that thing would sit on high ground and make shot after shot while everything else bumbled around in the brawl below. It may not have been a great introduction to a Mech, but it endeared me to the solid design.
My next encounter was in MWO. They finally released the Panther and it... didn't perform well. People dropped it immediately, but I got... creative. In a match, most heavies will disregard a Panther sneaking past the firing lines if there's something bigger to shoot at. They tend to regret that once you show up in their rear arc with two large pulses.
There's a lot you can say about Panthers. It really just all boils down to: they're reliable.
Funny MWO story, my heavily customized Crab-27b (FF armor, DHS, Light fusion engine that got it to 102KPH, Two light PPCs,two ER Mediums,two ER Smalls and an AMS with 1 ton of ammo) turned a corner while on a flanking maneuver and came face to face with a Panther set up for long range combat (ERPPC and an LRM rack and was decently fast). Considering how much of a disadvantage that Panther was at it put up quite a fight in that impromptu duel. It seems we were both rather unimportant to the mechs in our area of the map as we were completely undisturbed for our whole fight. It was quite a fun fight,just two oddball builds throwing down at the edges of a clash of larger mechs.
The Panther is an oddball. It functions far more like a small medium than a large light. It's a wonderful bodyguard for medium battleline 'mechs like the Centurion. But I think it's lack of speed really handicaps it's inclusion in a lance of lighter 'mechs. Basically, a light battleline 'mech, not a strike or recon 'mech.
Which is fair, considering how many light mediums function more like oversize lights, and the massive pressure put on most light mechs by the existence of the Phoenix Hawk.
Panther is definitely a better option than an Urbanmech if you happen to pull garrison or urban defense duty.
Fun stuff. In my experience, they are better in the books than on the tabletop.
Fair point.
@@MechanicalFrog But I've yet to try the newest variants.
I've gotta go through and try to recreate the Panther I made for my son. It's a 5/8/6 (thank you, partial wing) with a Light PPC in the CT, a Light PPC with Capacitor in the right arm, and MML-5 with two tons of ammo, and an ER Flamer in the left arm.
Sounds like fun.
i really like the Panther in 3025, but i wish more of the upgrades upped the mobility rather than keeping it at 4/6/4
the 13K's perhaps a step in the right direction, but way too drastic-something like the MF variant officially would be quite nice
Why do we love the Panther?
Because it's a light 'mech that even Assault 'mechs have to acknowledge. It's a great little support light and works well as a long-range sniper. Just avoid the PNT-10K. Without double heat sinks it's a nightmare to manage the heat from that ER PPC.
The panther, jumping out of a forest, firing a ppc, and vanishing back into the forest again... Times four. What's not to like?
Can't find much to complain about.
The Panther has enough pinch to always be a concern. It’s like a Cougar. It’s guns are to much of a threat to not take out as soon as you see it.
Because nothing beats a cheap durable line mech. It can halt a medium or light heavy long enough to matter, and you can afford more of them than the opposition can any superior option.
Well put.
The 8Z large laser Panther not being more available makes me sad if only because it has the exact statline my unit choice tends to optimize to, and then I see it's not available for the faction locked clan invasion AS tournament :(.
I love my Panther it has cat ears and a tail
:( Sorry
Cat, it's a kitty cat, and it dance dance dance, and it dance dance dance.
Settle down, meow... :D
@@MechanicalFrog 🐈🔥🔥💨💨
The DCMS: No takesies backsies :)
Mine mine mine... all mine...
What's not to love about a Panther? It's basically half a Warhammer
The 5/8 version of panther is my favorite. Good running buddy for crabs and dragons.
Speedy Panther is a happy Panther.
Playing a PNT-16K in a campaign run be a Catlyst Demo Agent at the moment. I kind of would like to downgrade the streak SRM-4 launchers to standard variants and put more armor on it. I've been using it as bait to keep elementals off the main force. Recovered/stole it from the DCMS dropship myself and the other players were in as prisoners before it crashed. I've been having a hard time hitting the fire moths that have been carrying the elementals in though.
Our OpFor is the Raven Alliance, who pulled out a damn Blood Asp T on us on our second outing. Gets a bit annoying when other players call me out for "not being in a fire support mech" when that's what an ER PPC is for. Armor's a bit thin though, but that's what I get for bringing the lightest mech in the unit when most range around 50 tons.
Have a problem? Apply PPC. Problem solved.
There really should be a dark age version of the panther with a clan ERPPC, It’s just such a perfect fit I really want to see it happen.
Hit pause @ 7:00 in because I just wanted to say I really appreciate this glitchy transition for the text and mech images. It's soooo good.
Razzle dazzle...
@MechanicalFrog this is a pretty crazy amount of variants... I had no idea.
I mean the year for the 13k is definitely beyond my usual range but still. This is *wild*
Honestly, even in the high-tech power-gaming wonderlands of the 32nd century, the classic Panther is a good investment, especially if you bring a couple of them. Just enough firepower that you can't ignore it, just enough armor and agility that you have to dump more weapons than you'd like into taking it down. Even when it's not a serious threat, it's damn annoying.
"Mom, can we have heavy mech?" "No, son, we have got panther at home!"
In my MegaMek campaign, I have a "Lance" of 11 Panthers. I've been lucky enough to have had quite a few contracts against the DCMS.
Yes, I turned off the lance size restriction, but I still have the weight restriction turned on. My company has, usually, 2 or 3 being repaired at any given moment during contracts and up to 6 mothballed. And sometimes I completely break down some, just to have spare parts.
Hello Frog.
In the early days of the game, 1984 through around 1990, I purely HATED the Panther. At that time, I was a Davion based player, and often faced full lances, dual lances, and even a full-up company of Panthers. To combat this penchant of the Kurita players to overuse the Panthers at their disposal, I decided to play the same 'game' they did, but substituted Locusts. A player would announce the combat value of his Company and I would field that same value as a reinforced company of Locusts. Not just any Locusts however. All my Mechs were the variant that removed other weaponry to add a 2nd medium laser, or a 2nd and even a 3rd medium laser.
This led to a hue and cry about the 'unfairness' of it all. And my response was: 'You have all Panthers with PPCs. I just have little Locusts with medium lasers. When they complained to the playing group at large, they were laughed at and told to either field mixed lances, or they would continue to see Mono Design Companies in their future. It only took a few games where others fielded 'companies' of things like all Phoenix Hawks, for the Kurita players to start mixing in other Mech designs.
Until then, I was greatly delighted to use my speed advantage to the fullest. Backstabbing my way through company after company of Panthers.
The Panther, for the era (3025) was not a 'bad' Mech. And it got better over time, with the advancement of technology in the game, as you have pointed out in your video.
All, in all, I no longer detest the Panther... since I have formulated multiple ways to deal with 'floods' of them at my doorstep.
It would be interesting to see Panthers in the Ghost Bear/Rasalhague Dominion service
We need more Rasalhague painted mechs in general.
Most good mechwarriors have a Panther killsign painted on their mech. All mechs have died to a Panther at some point. Thanks for the video.
Missed a few of these. Great mech to get back into the videos with
Welcome back!
It's dirty Drak mech but a Frog video...... guess I'll leave a like for the Frog! 😂
Whenever I get slammed by a ppc from a particularly dirty angle while playing mw5 I just know it's some cocky giggleshit in a Panther. They really are the Halo Wars Gauss Hog of Battletech
In the HBS game I actually like to run a sniper variant of the Panther that swaps out the PPC and SRM rack for 2 large lasers and an LRM-5 rack.
Sounds fun.
Nice as usuall! Hope we'll get Hussar video one day. Those Savannah Mechs are underappreciated.
An excellent reason for acquisition missions in Kuritan space.
LOL It said "Posted 55 seconds ago" XD
Early bird.
Great video! Like the touch of Kurita humor. Looking forward to more videos.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Gotta say Mechfrog, I really like your variant. Gonna give it a try on the table top on Friday.
Please do! Let me know how it does.
Grwat video! Love the history...so much detail in battletech world.
Glad you enjoyed it!
3050 full clan tech rebuild of the PNT-11A Panther.
35t, 5/8/5, 1.75 endosteel, 3.5 XL+DHS, 5t standard cockpit and gyro, 6t fero-fiberous (armor factor 115), 18.75 pod space.
PRIME Config: ERPPC (ra), 2 Streak SRM-4 (r/lt), 2t srm- ammo (r/lt), MG + 0.5t ammo (la-cased), TAG, AP, ECM, 3 DHS.
Alt Config A: 2 ERLL (r/la), 2 Streak SRM-4 (r/lt), 1t ammo (rt-cased), MG + 0.5t ammo (la-cased), 5 DHS
PNT-10K may have been due to lack of double heat sinks at the time, but it can work as part of a Panther lance. 1 PNT-10K hits further than rest of the lance, while PNT-9Rs in the same lance provide bulk of the firepowerr.
My father's mercs had one with a clan lbx 20 in its arm, always a nasty surprise
That sounds... big.
I kinda want to know how that was built.
@@elchjol2777 Essentially a 10k with an lbx 20 clan and an er med laser clan in the head salvaged from the Jade Falcons, 5/8/5 xl
In my 3025 era games, i like to switch out the ppc for a large laser and the srms for a lrm 10. Similar heat but now the large laser is your close support weapon...
I can respect the LL switch. It's solid.
Every time I saw those ID tags on the scanner I could feel my profit margins getting slim from all the damage those things cause
ah yes, the venerable panther, a mech that sits in my pantheon of favorites...along with the stormcrow *hint hint*
A Panther with no PPC is no Panther at all.
I don't have a honey to wake up. But I'm always happy when you post your Videos. Me love Battletech ❤ 😎
Glad to hear it! Thanks for putting up with my nonsense.
Panther: The Urbanmech you actually want!
The -10KA downgrade to the stock PPC worked out before the end of 3055, as the new No-Dachi, mounting TSM and a sword. needed a quick way to warm up for its inevitable brawl as it closed with the enemy
Shocking. Mechfrog updated the plasma rifle Panther variant with more plasma rifle ammo.
:Everyonelikedthat:
Awesome, I was just playing Battletech with the Revised mod last night and had my commander's head blown off by a Panther's PPC. I've been wanting to run a whole lance of them.
That'll leave a mark.
Why do we love the panther? Because everybody loves when a little guy has range and a hard punch!
Well said.
Another excellent video!
I don’t like the Panther, but brought one down the other day in a tabletop game, using a Wolfhound…
😁
You know one thing that I always kind of hated that the video games didn't really portray, get a full lance of these things or a reinforced Lance and the moment that they managed to separate you and start focusing fire on one thing and you might as well be fighting an awesome if you're only using the more common mechs that normally are more lightly armed or have smaller guns in larger quantities