Hey PI-Fans,
The Mad Cat OmniMech, as the Timber Wolf it is known in the Inner Sphere, has long the poster boy of Clan OmniMech design – the ‘Mech’s bulbous bullet shaped cockpit, bird like legs and bulky ‘Mickey Mouse Ears’ (as the mounted missile racks are affectionately known) give the ‘Mech something of an iconic profile.
Mad Cats have jockeyed with the Atlas for cover art positions since the early nineties in an ongoing running battle which their various progeny designs have more than readily taken up after their parents.
Today, we’re going to take a look at the history of this iconic design that menaced Inner Sphere Commanders around the world since their introduction in 1990 (real-life). While you’re here, don’t forget to book a demo session and swing by the store to learn to play, if you don’t already know how.
Though a cutting edge machine at the point of its introduction in 2866, the Woodsman, Clan Wolf’s first OmniMech design, was deemed to have aged poorly against modern opposition such as the Warhawk and Summoner and a replacement was urgently sought. In 2945, the Timber Wolf OmniMech was introduced alongside its assault-class stablemate the Gargoyle as competing replacements for the aging warhorse.
Due to a striking visual similarity to both the venerable Marauder and Catapult BattleMechs (enough to cause battle computers to flicker between MAD and CPLT designators on first contact with the then unknown ‘Mech), the Timber Wolf subsequently became known as the Mad Cat to Inner Sphere intelligence agencies after a series of disastrously costly first contact encounters.
The design has remained thankfully uncommon (for the warriors of the Inner Sphere) on the battlefield due to Clan Wolf maintaining a near stranglehold on the production of new Timber Wolves. Thanks to the sole factory for the design remaining firmly under Wolf control, the other invading Clans have been forced to procure their own examples primarily through trade, gifts and battlefield salvage.
Fast for a heavy BattleMech, and sporting a lethal array of missile and laser weaponry comparable (and often exceeding) many Assault-weight Inner Sphere designs, the Mad Cat’s performance was utterly unparalleled in the Inner Sphere at the time. Capable of handily pacing many Medium BattleMechs while sporting the firepower to carve apart most Heavy and Assault-weight Inner Sphere machines, the Mad Cat/Timber Wolf has since became symbolic of the Clan invasion and an avatar of the near unstoppable enemy facing the embattled Successor states.
Take command of the Invading Clans with the BattleTech Clan Invasion box set, and claim world after world in the name of the descents of Kerensky, or face the sheet terror of facing the barbarians at the gate with the desperate Inner Sphere defenders.
As a companion box to the BattleTech A Game of Armored Combat box, the Clan Invasion box provides everything you need to field a force of five Clan OmniMechs with Elemental infantry support. On top of that, you will also receive new record sheets for the BattleMechs in the A Game of Armored Combat box, representing the stopgap tech upgrades the Inner Sphere powers rushed to units in the field in a vain attempt to slow the seemingly unstoppable Clan advance.
Want to get in on the action? Don’t forget to grab your own BattleTech Bundle from Games @ PI and come on down to participate in your own BattleTech demo with the staff. Book your own slot now!
THE BATTLETECH BUNDLE
FREE BATTLETECH: BEGINNER BOX
WITH PURCHASE OF A GAME OF ARMORED COMBAT AND CLAN INVASION BOXES*
GET STARTED AT GAMES @ PI OR GET THEM ON OUR WEBSTORE!
BATTLETECH: A GAME OF ARMORED COMBAT