Clan 'Mech Misreports

[ErikModi]

So, as we all know, the Timber Wolf got its iconic reporting name of Mad Cat because Inner Sphere target computers kept misidentifying it as a Marauder and a Catapult, because it shared design elements of both.  Elsewhere in the Blood of Kerensky trilogy, Victor Davion's computer misidentifies a Summoner as a Warhammer, Marauder, and Victor (though I'd say it would flop between a Thunderbolt due to general body shape and a Marauder thanks to the PPC arm, maybe Warhammer also due to body shape).  So, what do people think other Clan 'Mechs might be misidentified as the first time they were encountered?

Kit Fox:  Jenner and Marauder, since the overall body shape seems to blend both.
Hellbringer:  Warhammer and Marauder.
Gargoyle:  Atlas and Awesome, maybe?

[beachhead1985]

I think you about nailed it.

I'm certain that the art, if not the load outs of the Vulture/Mad Dog were inspired by the Archer and Rifleman a 3049 warbook program would probably bounce between a Marauder and an Archer though; I don't think the arms would spoof it as much.

[Frogfoot]

I think the original Incubus has a Valkyrie/Wasp/Stinger resemblance.

I don't know if 3050 IS battle computers would 'remember' the SL Galahad (not that the Clan one is exactly the same, but still), if not they might report it as a Rifleman.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I think the original Incubus has a Valkyrie/Wasp/Stinger resemblance.

I don't know if 3050 IS battle computers would 'remember' the SL Galahad (not that the Clan one is exactly the same, but still), if not they might report it as a Rifleman.

The Black Thorns novel DRT has a Galahad getting identified as a Rifleman, but that book also featured bloodnamed Clan warriors referring to Clan mechs by their Inner Sphere codenames and using contractions, so I'm not sure how much stock you want to put into it.

[ErikModi]

So. . . what about the Fenris/Ice Ferret?

I almost think the Black Hawk/Nova might be misidentified as a Hatchetman, because of the spindly legs, but what else?

[Tai Dai Cultist]

I think you about nailed it.

I'm certain that the art, if not the load outs of the Vulture/Mad Dog were inspired by the Archer and Rifleman a 3049 warbook program would probably bounce between a Marauder and an Archer though; I don't think the arms would spoof it as much.

Interestingly, the FC and Kurita forces both faced numerous examples of Mad Dogs and came up with the same reporting name independently. Although the Kuritans used Hagetaka as their name (Japanese for vulture).  Presumably once the "hey let's agree to not try to kill each other until the Clans are dealt with" truce was informally agreed between those empires, some intelligence sharing was done and both sides had a good belly laugh about the Vulture/Hagetaka.  And they both agreed to just use the English version as the "inner sphere standard" reporting name.

[The Eagle]

If I had to lay it per 'Mech, I'd go with the following:

Fire Moth: Spider -- Spindly legs and body shape
Mist Lynx: Commando -- That's about as close as I can think of; there's not a lot of IS 'Mechs of the age that have wrist-mounted missile pods
Kit Fox: Jenner -- They share a same general shape, with chicken legs, a thrust-forward cockpit, and a sort of hood rising from behind the head, though the warbook would probably have an issue with the Fox's arms
Adder: Jenner -- For much the same reasons as the Kit Fox
Viper: Raven -- Chicken legs and a prominent beak, though again the difference in arms is going to give the computer fits
Ice Ferret: Assassin -- This is a bit of a stretch, but they're both man-walkers at least.  Neither one has a a humanoid head that sits on "shoulders," instead having a cockpit that thrusts out from the front of the torso
Nova: Crab -- Also not a decent match, but they're both chicken walkers with outward-thrust cockpits and prominent arms
Stormcrow: Jenner -- Another issue of arms, but the combination of chicken legs with an outward-thrust cockpit beneath a missile bank is too close a match
Mad Dog: Cataphract/Caesar -- There is no good match for this one, mostly because chicken walkers appear to much more common among the Clans than they are in the Inner Sphere.  The Cataphract and Caesar at least have the right legs and  a fairly prominent center-line.
Hellbringer: Warhammer -- This one seems a little obvious to me, what with the shoulder-mounted missile launcher and searchlight combined with man-legs and a fairly squared-off torso
Summoner: Thunderbolt -- It's the missile launcher and the off-center cockpit that make this one for me, just too much similarity there
Timber Wolf: Catapult/Marauder -- We all know that one
Gargoyle: Atlas -- Angry face, rounded top, and man legs
Warhawk: King Crab -- These two share a weight class (and thus are of a size), leg structure, and hand-less arms with a superstructure above & behind the cockpit.  It's not a great fit, but it's about as close as I could come up with
Executioner: Banshee -- Another angry face, but this time with a squared off top instead of a rounded top
Dire Wolf: King Crab -- See: Warhawk.

[ErikModi]

Good call on the Nova!  I could totally see it flopping between Hatchetman (because of the spindly legs) and Crab (because over overall body shape and laser weapons).

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

I don't see how any visual ID would ever mistake a Black Hawk for a Hatchetman.  "Spindly" legs or not, they look nothing alike.  It'd be like mistaking a walrus for a seagull.

[Cyc]

They are a bit "No! Really? That is totally unexpected!", but TRO:3060 mentions Cougars getting mistaken for Pumas and FC MechWarriors getting caught out and Great Wyrm getting misidentified by ComStar computers as Dragons.

[beachhead1985]

Dire Wolf: King Crab

And we know this is close enough to be vis-modded by Invader Galaxy.

[The Eagle]

And we know this is close enough to be vis-modded by Invader Galaxy.

I had actually forgotten about that!

[JadeHellbringer]

Fenris: "Brick with legs running really fast"

[beachhead1985]

I had actually forgotten about that!

Yeah; and best I recall, it is the only real example of Invader Galaxy's Vis-Mods in action.

[Frabby]

It's been confirmed in an official ruling that Clan DropShips - namely, the Union-C, Overlord-C and presumably also the Broadsword - were misidentified as Union, Overlord, and Leopard, respectively. I seem recall one BattleCorps story where a Sassanid is referred to as an Intruder equivalent, but can't remember the name of the story.

The Conjurer (Hellhound) was actually reported as the Wolverine IIC by ComStar who jumped to the right conclusion when seeing this 'Mech, though they had no way of knowing that the Clans shunned the name Wolverine to the point of giving its IIC derivate a different name. (Some sourcebook written as a ComStar document mentions the Wolverine IIC. May have been the Tukayyid scenario pack.)

And some made-up IS reporting names from canon:
- The Emerald Harrier was initially reported as the Roadrunner, and when the IS actually started to produce it a century later or so they actually renamed it Roadrunner.
- Similarly, there were early reports of the Howler 3 referring to it as Devil.

[jklantern]

As I recall, in the first "Blood of Kerensky" book, in the same battle that Phelan first ID's the Mad Cat, he runs into a Gargoyle that his computer misidentifies between a Warhammer and a Marauder (he tags it Man o' War because that's the best combo of those two names he can come up with).

That said, it's kind of an "early installment weirdness" type thing, and one of those things that makes me feel like the artwork wasn't necessarily nailed down as these things were getting written, as it is described in the novel (and in an older version of TRO 3050) as a "Warhammer with Marauder arms."  Now, that doesn't sound like the Gargoyle/Man o' War, but it DOES sound like another Mech introduced in that TRO, no?

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

Actually, I believe that the Man o' War was the third mech in the star he encountered, after Vlad's Mad Cat and the Loki.

But Early Installment Weirdness was certainly in effect: the Dire Wolf was repeatedly referred to as a dropship.

[jklantern]

Actually, I believe that the Man o' War was the third mech in the star he encountered, after Vlad's Mad Cat and the Loki.

But Early Installment Weirdness was certainly in effect: the Dire Wolf was repeatedly referred to as a dropship.

You could very well be right.  I thought it was a Mad Cat and two Man o' Wars, but it has been several years.

The DIRE WOLF, though, THAT was kinda/sorta a plot point.  Phelan's on board the Dire Wolf, and looking at the way the decks are laid out, he thinks, "Man, this is a YUGE dropship."  At some point, Ulric Kerensky mentions, "Yeah, this is a Jumpship."  At which point Phelan flips out.

Granted, calling a warship a jumpship, while not inaccurate, is also a bit of early installment weirdness.  Let's face it, there was a LOT of that.

[glitterboy2098]

to be fair, a warship is a sort of armed and more mobile jumpship. and Ulric probably knew that the people of the inner sphere no longer really understood the distinction, given warships had been extinct there for so long.

[ColBosch]

Granted, calling a warship a jumpship, while not inaccurate, is also a bit of early installment weirdness.  Let's face it, there was a LOT of that.

"Armed JumpShip" is a common enough phrase in the sources, though its usage slackened after Tech Readouts 2750 and 3057. I didn't find its use in BoK to be too weird; it's easily handwaved as Ulric talking down a bit to Phelan. He probably figured the ignorant Spheroid wouldn't make the connection between "warship" (which by that point in the Inner Sphere meant military-oriented Drop- and JumpShips) and "WarShip" (since one can't pronounce camelcase...).

But back to the main topic, I don't think it's outside the realm of possibility that the Nova was identified as being a modified Crab.

[glitterboy2098]

eh i do think it is unlikely. the two don't really look much alike.

i find it more likely that the Nova would show up in the warbooks as "unknown locust variant", since the legs and body on the nova are pretty analogous to the legs and body of the Locust.. especially now that we've jettisoned the unseen art for it in favor of the classics

i mean, compare:


i suspect that if the crab shows up, it would spend more time on the locust than the crab.

[Luciora]

If the computer is extrapolating from size and maybe weight, the crab gets the id. 

eh i do think it is unlikely. the two don't really look much alike.

i find it more likely that the Nova would show up in the warbooks as "unknown locust variant", since the legs and body on the nova are pretty analogous to the legs and body of the Locust.. especially now that we've jettisoned the unseen art for it in favor of the classics

i mean, compare:


i suspect that if the crab shows up, it would spend more time on the locust than the crab.

[Tai Dai Cultist]

The lore about Chameleons being able to mount modules that make them not only physically resemble other 'Mech classes, but register as such on warbooks strongly suggest that those warbook programs aren't looking at mass.

[MoneyLovinOgre4Hire]

In the novel Black Dragon, warbooks were fooled by mock-up mechs that were light mechs that had been cosmetically altered to look like assault mechs for use in a movie.

[Cyc]

In the novel Black Dragon, warbooks were fooled by mock-up mechs that were light mechs that had been cosmetically altered to look like assault mechs for use in a movie.

Greenburg's Godzillas also quite adept at this kind of thing too, again for Combine holovid producers, and it came in handy in 3070 on Málaga when they were able to successfully convince a Jade Falcon unit that they were a frontline Clan Steel Viper cluster of OmniMechs and cause the Falcons to retreat.

[ErikModi]

Hmm, very interesting, thank you!  Keep it coming.

[Iceweb]

On the same line of thinking, I believe the Brigand came as a complete surprise, since they didn't think pirates could make their own mechs. 
(If I remember the TRO fluff right) 
Any guesses to what the computer tried to pigeonhole the first Brigand into?