Tell me about...the Mad Dog

[Alan Grant]

Ah the Mad Dog...a Clan almost "trademark" machine.

I haven't done much with the Mad Dog. I respect the primary variant. I'm eying some of the other variants available. Some take dramatic left and right turns, changing the focus of the machine.

I'd like some thoughts on these variants, which you love, hate, feelings about the mech in general.

[Neufeld]

Well, most of the configs are decent except for the C and E, which are not so good.

C fails to take advantage of the fixed heat-sinks. Swapping a GR for an ERPPC would allow it to mount secondary weapons.
E will run out of ammo too fast.

[Ghostbear_Gurdel]

Tied for my favorite mech. I love the Prime, and have the firing patterns so well memorized I could run this machine in my sleep.

I like most of the variants, but it helps that I love missiles.
The A is a brutal crit seeker.
Have not used the B much.
The one game I used the C I was missing 5's all game. Have not used it since.
D? I love ATMs, 'nuff said.
The H is one of my favorites. As long as you do not use the Heavy Large it is very heat efficient and still puts out some hurt. And when you really need the extra firepower, while it may cost you heat wise, a 16 point smack always helps.

My best game, a Mad Dog Prime of mine simultaneously took on an Alacorn Mk VI and a Nova Cat. Long story shot, my Mad Dog died, but the Alacorn was dead and the Nova Cat was a walking trash heap.

[Demon55]

The Mad Dog is a bit light on the armor, but it is a 60 tonner.  If it is used correctly it can be very effective.  I really do not like having to go up against the C-Variant.  It seems to be often under sinked.
The A is a murderer up close.
The B is also not something you want to cuddle with. 
The D is more of a missile support platform.
The E and F are much like the C.

[Iron Mongoose]

The Mad Dog is a pretty solid mech.  The main complaints come from it being a 'heavy' mech at the low end of the class, thus drawing comparisons to the Timby and Summoner, which have advantages based on their higher mass. 

One of the Mad Dog's key advantages, especaly under BV1, was that it had a few veriants that were really terriffic values.  The Prime, with its twin LPLs, was just 1871 BV, which is less than many Stormcrows and way under any Timber Wolf or Summoner worth having, despite having good accuracy and with the LRMs good power in close (I like to use the LPLs at range, and the LRMs and MPLs in close, since the LRM's don't have the ammo to spend at range and the mech can't stand the heat, but they offer good damage and crit seeking in close, with no minimums).  The A was an even better value, at just 1510 BV, less than some very high end lights and most good mediums, for a mech with a PPC and LB5 for range, and a huge brace of SRMs in close.  BV2 has evened things up a bit, but both thouse mechs are still some of the better deals.

I don't dislike the C the way may do.  Yes, its silly innefficant, but no one wants to mess with two head cappers, especaly when its got so much excess heat there's no way to slow it down.  The max amount of heat that can be added to a mech is 25 with two engine hits and 15 from plasma and infernos and flamers, on a mech that can sink 24 heat and generate at most 4.  The resualt is that at worst, the Mad Dog can fight on for several turns, and most of the time if it can dodge the plasma for a turn it will never feer heat at all.  In this new age of heat weapons, it is an asset.

The B is one of the better veriants, but I always found it was a poor value, because of heat problems and because of its role.  A big slow mech with a lot of armor can plod away to close and fight at a lot of ranges, but the Mad Dog has speed to specalize a bit, so there's less need to have such distinct brackets as the B does.  I prefer the Prime over it.

[Moonsword]

The Mad Dog's key disadvantage to me has always been the armor.  However, it's not the Hellbringer and that half-ton isn't terribly important to me.  What's there is decently distributed, too.

The configurations are generally pretty positive although the E's lack of ammo is crazy even for Clantech.  It's not the Hunchback IIC but it has no secondary weapons and a much longer range so it evens out.

[Ian Sharpe]

Great looking mech, which is reason in itself to field it.  Love the name, and given that its a bit fragile but well-armed, descriptive of how to successfully pilot it.  Has some good configs, the Prime, the B.  Even its H config was pretty good, lots of ammo for the LRMs.  The C is certainly different.  Great mech if you expect a firebug or a desert/volcano scenario.  I'd like the F more if it had more ammo, but then it'd have to give up on the lasers, which it needs.  Its in line with ammo loads Clan players are used to, at any rate.

The E seems a massive waste.  OK, it can handle AA if it has an ammo truck right beside it.  That's the only Mad Dog I find too restrictive for regular use.

[Nibs]

I've always wanted to try the A variant. With the ER PPC and the autocannon, it seems like it could still handle itself at range, while pummeling them with the SRMs in short.

[Iron Mongoose]

Its a bit week at range; with the cluster rounds it won't even tend to draw a PSR, in a world where Clan heavies and even Clan mediums can often lay down 30+ points at range, with a solid 20 being a bit on the low end (the similar damage from the Stormcrow C is often labled at a bit below par, for example, despite its high accuracy).  And in the Clan world, where SSRMs and MPLs and AC20s are all 4/8/12, the basic SRM (and the HML) are pretty much the only weapons that are still 3/6/9, so there's a range disadvantage there that complicates things.

But once you can work in close and unload, its largely over for the other guy, baring bad rolls (I once had a Mad Dog A stuffed with infernos waltz up to a lance of tanks and bring down only one before being itself brought down due to stunningly poor dice, but that's an abnormality).

[jymset]

The A is far and away my favourite configuration of a 'Mech that I really like anyway.

It is ok at range - it punches slightly below its weight, but hey - that's only cover fire.

I will repost my Mad Dog MotW within the next couple of days.

[Reaver]

The Mad Dog is less capable than its bigger, nastier brother in the Timberwolf.  But the fact that its not as capable should not be read to say that its incapable.  It's a slugger that in most configurations can drop mechs much larger than itself.  The first time I ran this design was in a Trial of Position.  I obliterated a Nova and a Timbie with the mech before an Executioner got me.

Prime:  It's like an Archer and a Marauder huddled in the corner of the mechbay and gave birth to a pugnacious little scrapper of a son.  It runs a little hot, and the ammunition is limited, so this does better in duels than extended fights.  That being said, it punches above its weight, and most people tend to ignore it for other Clan heavies.  Their mistake.

A:  It's terrifying in close; kinda meh at range.  The ERPPC headcapper is always good, but the LB-5X is a bit of a headscratcher.

B:  When I take a Mad Dog into combat, it's usually either this design or something slightly modded to give me more ammo.  At any range, it has enough weapons to bracket fire very effectively.

C:  It's the direct fire support config that also works as an effective long-range duelist design.  I have an affinity for support weapons, so I don't personally like the C config, but it's basically a faster Glass Spider, which if you've ever played with a Glass Spider, you'll recognize that as no insult.

Customizability:  The pod space weight is a little low, and it's not optimized to max out weight and use endo like the Timbie is, but this is still a solid chassis that allows you a lot of flexibility and customization.  When I customize, I typically mod my designs to drop a little bit of weight to the launchers in exchange for more ammunition, but I rarely deviate too far from the spirit of the Prime or B configurations.

[Ghostbear_Gurdel]

Low podspace? The Mad Dog has the second highest Podspace of any Clan Heavy Omni in 3050(exceeded only by the Hellbringer). It has more tonnage for guns than the Timber Wolf.

[Iron Mongoose]

Well, the Timbi, Mad Dog and Hellbi are all with in a ton of one another, so the difrence is pretty minor (it was even more minor back in the fractional accounting days).  The Hellbi's got more crits and that extra half ton, but the Timby hits back with three extra fixed sinks despite being crit packed.  The Mad Dog splits the difrence, with fewer fixed sinks, but no endo for more free crits to add them back in.  And all three blow away the jumping Summoner, faster Stormcrow, or overweight Gargoyle (to name mechs at the edge of the class). 

Of course, the newer Cauldron Born has an extra two tons on it and a bonus sink, though fewer free crits, and the slower Nova Cat and Night Gyr blow all the 5/8s out of the tub anyway.  Oh, and I guess the Linebacker and Crossbow are basicly jokes when it comes to pod space.

Honestly, I like custom Mad Dogs and Timbies the least, because I always feel like I need to keep the feel with missiles and lasers like the Primes of each.  I like Cauldies and Hellbies and the like because I don't feel as constrained.  But maybe that's just me.

[Moonsword]

The Nova Cat and Night Gyr have always struck me as returns to the classic 4/6 weapons platform role of the heavy 'Mech, more of an Orion and Thunderbolt to the 5/8 Omnis' Ostol and Quickdraw heavy cavalry performance.

[Reaver]

Low podspace? The Mad Dog has the second highest Podspace of any Clan Heavy Omni in 3050(exceeded only by the Hellbringer). It has more tonnage for guns than the Timber Wolf.

It's a little low compared to the theoretical min-maxed design that I could build in its place if I were a munchkin.  Moreover, as noted above, other designs offer more fixed equipment that the Mad Dog leaves as free pod space:  the Timbie's a little lower in free pod space, true, but it can dissipate 6 more heat from the additional fixed heat sink mounts.

Really, I wasn't meaning it as any insult.  I like the design.  But part of reviewing any mech is not merely evaluating what it can do, but what it could do if it were designed as best it can be.  The pod space assessment was only a measurement against that standard.  I get (and appreciate) the fact that FASA never built strictly min-maxed designs, but there's no shame in admitting that there could have been more pod space if they had tweaked it a little.

[A. Lurker]

Bit of a "finesse" 'Mech in my opinion, for all the firepower that it carries. Fact is, it doesn't have the armor to long withstand the kind of punishment it can itself deal out, and its mobility is only average for a heavy Clan chassis. Tactics and a fair bit of actual <gasp> caution will have to be the watchwords of the day if you want to see your Mad Dog exit the battlefield in less than severely mauled condition after the fight.

(Also...ever notice how the points of forward armor and internal structure for each side torso just happen to add up to exactly the amount of damage inflicted by a double Gauss/Clan ER PPC love tap? Coincidence or...? :D)

[Iron Mongoose]

Caution?  Caution is for freebirths and stravags and such.  Better just to rip into the enemy quickly and ferociously, and kill them before your armor lets out!  You sons of bitches want to live forever?

But yeah, it does benifit from the LPLs on the Prime or the GRs on the C, and being able to hang back a bit.