IntroductionHello all! This is my very first Fan Article, and I’ll be covering and updating an old classic: the
Panther. The old Panther article dated all the way back to 2008, and may be found
here. Since then a couple more variants of the Panther have emerged, so I’m happy to have the honour of adding to the work of past giants. The Master Unit List entry for the Panther is
here.
A black Panther... ...and Black Panther ;D
HistoryThe Panther was first conceived in 2739, making it as old as Blessed Blake Himself, and the very first model (PNT-8Z) fought its first actions against Periphery rebels. As the 2750s ended however, the Star League was beset by the Hidden Wars, each Great House jostling neighbours with small-scale raiding actions. After a disastrous battle on the Lyran-Combine border planet of St John, the 8Z was quickly up-gunned to the definitive Star League model most of us are familiar with, the PNT-9R. After the fall of the Star League the Draconis Combine picked up the Panther production lines on Alshain and New Oslo, and hence is noted as by far the most significant user of the Panther. The Free Rasalhague Republic (“who?”) would also use this Mech extensively, since both original factories were located within its territory.
The lineage of the Panther’s many variants runs as below, note confusing model numbers. There are also a couple of Schrodinger’s
Cat Panthers (har har) in debatable existence… but we’ll come to that later. Let’s crack on.
VariantsPNT-8Z Panther, 2739 – Moving 4/6/4 with 14 single heat sinks and maxed armour (7.5 tons), the Original Panther carried a Large Laser, an SRM-4 with 1 ton of ammo, and was commonly seen in SLDF recon and striker units. The front-rear armour ratio is a vanilla 3:1 layout. As it stands, compared to the ‘standard’ Panther the 8Z mainly trades range for brawlability, though the question remains whether you really want a 35-ton Mech closing into punch or kick range.
PNT-9R Panther, 2759 – This is the definitive Panther model which most
fogeys grognards experienced players cut their teeth on. 1 heat sink and 1 ton of armour is dropped (leaving 87%) to mount what would become its signature weapon – the PPC. All 8Zs were converted to the 9R model, and so it would remain for the next 3 centuries of brutal galaxy-rending carnage.
With 13 heat sinks the 9R generates only movement heat on an alpha strike, and that is great. Despite its poor speed for a Light Mech (partly compensated for by its jump jets), the 9R functions as a cavalry Mech, moving ahead of the main body to engage the enemy’s reconnaissance screen and smack them around. In this era, no Mech under 40 tons a Panther is likely to encounter can last long with those PPC blasts laying bare internals with every hit – and this includes itself. Front-rear armour is arranged in a 2:1 ratio and shaved all over; with only 10 points of armour on side torsos and limbs, a Panther can be crippled in just 2 PPC shots to the same location.
The DCMS took very well to the 9R Panther, built as it is like a snack-size version of the Combine’s own Gladiator and Von Rohrs with that same PPC-and-rockets combo, and another factory was built on Jarett. Though it’s true any Mech in the 45-ton and above range demands respect from a Panther driver… for now, it’s the Third Succession War, you’re a samurai hunting the comparably pathetically-armed Lyran Commandos and Fedrat Javelins, so you may be a tad slow, but it’s the Happy Time for you.
PNT-10K and
PNT-C Panther, 3051 – The infamous 10K’s only change from the 9R is using Endo Steel to squeeze in CASE and Artemis IV for the SRM-4, and (sigh) an ER PPC. Nope, no double heat sinks, meaning you overheat a tad just firing off the main gun and standing still. It gets worse when you let rip with the SRMs, and you’re expected to – High Command paid for that Artemis IV, damnit, so don’t come home with full racks! Do the math however, and you’ll find for a whole ton of invested weight one will actually land only 2 or so extra rockets in the course of a typical tabletop battle… d’oh! All in all, the 10K is one of those wonky designs that came out when the Clans were overrunning planets with a handful of warriors and the Helm Memory Core was promising
wunderwaffen of all kinds to stem the tide. It happens.
The
PNT-C however is (in my opinion) a hidden winner, dumping the 10K’s Artemis for the infinitely more useful C3 Slave thus transforming a botch into a deadly sniper. With that ER PPC-C3 combo, despite the heat issues, I wouldn’t balk overly even if forced to play this model through to the Jihad. The key here is to use that ER PPC at long range, sniping at enemies with lower THNs than they can throw back at you. Keep your manoeuvring options open and keep slinging those particle beams downrange; don't be afraid to ride the heat curve into the double digits, then duck or jet away to cool off for a turn.
PNT-10KA and
PNT-CA Panther, 3055 – Respectively ‘field-stripped’ refits of the 10K and C, the ER PPCs are downgraded to standard PPCs to solve the heat problem. On the -10KA that’s acceptable, if barely, but on the -CA it neuters an acceptable sniper and so the Combine’s Panther-tinkerers whiffle again. Users afraid of the heat dial will be relieved, but the reduced range forces the Panther to give up its C3 advantage and returns some of the advantage to enemies equipped with LRMs and ER weapons.
PNT-12A Panther, 3064 – This somewhat un-Pantherlike variant is deployed by the Genyosha and Sword of Light – y’know, the upper crust of the Combine – suggesting perhaps no more than a battalion’s worth of these models are in existence. Mounting 10 double heat sinks, maxed armour, a Streak SRM-4 with CASE, a Medium Pulse Laser, an
ER Large Laser (to the outrage of true Panther drivers) and a
Targeting Computer (to the outrage of Fed Suns fans), the 12A is a well-made ‘
Experten model’ that IMHO probably originated from that era’s convivial atmosphere of anti-Clan unity, Combine
glasnost and Omi Kurita becoming Victor’s semi-official squeeze ::)
PNT-14S Panther, 3069 – The first Jihad variant would be a Word of Blake spin-off of the -10K, with plans probably stolen from Luthien and built in an undiscovered location. Improved jump jets allow it to jump 180 meters, moving 4/6/6, but in order to mount them and a half-ton more armour, weapons are cut to a Snubnose PPC and two RL-15s… and guess what?
It still carries the 13 single heat sinks of the -10K! Though still capable of scaring slower Light Mechs, there are much, much faster Mechs running around in these Jihad days; coupled with the lack of C3i, IMHO this model is really only fit for issue to the second-line WOB Militia.
PNT-16K Panther, 3070 – Well it only took them 40 years, but the DCMS finally came up with a worthy successor to the Panther name. Light ferro strengthens the limbs a hair, and two Streak SRM-4 racks sharing a ton of CASE-d ammo more than doubles its effective backup firepower, but most importantly, backing that ER PPC are
10 double heat sinks. Now I absolutely love Streaks, and this would be my personal favourite variant. Though the 16K is very well done, it is a bit of a one-off model; the Panther main line would be receiving its own Jihad refits shortly…
PNT-10K2 Panther, 3074 – …and that would be the long-awaited fix to the 10K, mounting 12 double heat sinks and an additional SRM-4 (hello special ammo!). This is almost the coolest-running of all Panther variants, able to sink alpha strikes with relative ease. Personally I would have squeezed in a C3 Slave somewhere, but beggars can’t be choosers, and compared to the 10K, this is gold. Which is more than can be said for…
PNT-12K2 Panther, 3074 – …its brother, which continues the grand Combine tradition of screwing Panther pilots over. The 12K2 is a variant of the 10K, developed in parallel to the 10K2.
Keep that in mind for later. Instead of the SRM-4, the 12K2 mounts an MRM-10 and maxes out armour. With 12 double heat sinks this guy isn’t producing the teeniest blip on the heat scale anytime soon without outside assistance, and that’s a real waste. Now, MRMs extend a Panther’s range out of what is for the 3070s a very uncomfortable band populated by Snubbies and pulse lasers of all flavours, so I can see the point, but the 12K2 is in dire need of either extra firepower, or something to shave the targeting numbers. Those salvageable DCMS Panther chasses wrecked in the fires of the Jihad were rebuilt to either the 10K2 or 12K2 standard, bringing the older model Panthers closer to extinction.
PNT-13K Panther, 3076 – The 13K is the direct descendant of the 12A (with technical input from salvaged WOBbie 14Ss), another
Experten model assigned to the Genyosha and Sword of Light, and unites the 12A’s tradition of pushing the boundaries of performance with the general Panther line’s tradition of whiffling the job ::) The 13K moves a speedy 5/8/8 off an XL engine, XL Gyro, and an array of improved jumpjets, carries 10 double heat sinks, and shoots a Plasma Rifle (blasphemy!) and an SRM-4 with 1 ton of ammo each, without CASE because it’s largely pointless on a Mech this thinly-armoured. The ammo load is positively Clanlike, so it’s less surprising the Ghost Bears would salvage a few 13Ks for their own (presumably solahma) use. Shaving a half-ton of much-needed armour to fit those jumpers means a 20-point hit on any location other than an untouched CT or the empty left arm leaves you with a 35-ton paperweight. Newsflash, jumping that far is a neat trick, but moving 5/8 in the late 3070s is something Heavy Mechs do with ease. Not to mention the 13K is also the ugliest Panther ever, replacing the classic feline look with a hacked block for a body and Gundam-esque pauldrons. Yuck.
PNT-12KC Panther, 3139 – So, a recap: the 9R was king of the field till about 3050, the 10K whiffled it hard, and the Jihad-era variants struggled manfully to keep an outmoded chassis relevant in an era teeming with bigger and more dangerous fish. What does the Dark Age bring us? Record Sheets 3145 gives us the 12KC, and in this we have the culmination of all things Panther, for
better or worse, definitely worse.
PNT-12KC carries over the endo steel bones, standard fusion 4/6/4 and ER PPC from the 10K parent line (replacing the SRM-4 with a standard medium laser), the 12A line’s borrowed-tech elitism of 10 Clan double heat sinks, adds a Boosted C3 Slave a la the PNT-C line, and like Panthers in general throws in a dash of shiny toy syndrome: 9 tons of Ballistic-Reinforced Armour laid out 9, 12/16/12, (4/5/4), 10/10 and 13/13. The rules for B-R Armour is simple; energy weapons laugh at it, while missiles and cannon do only half damage (round down) to a minimum of 1. The 12KC’s best matchups therefore would be against Mechs packing LRMs, AC-5s and rotary ACs, as B-R would negate some 50% to 60% of their fire. But PPCs and lasers hit normally, and uh, it’s not like those’re very rare weapons, y’know, so...
avoid flashbulbs.
Well, what more can I say? Exactly 400 years after the 8Z’s debut, the latest Panther still looks the same, moves the same, and throws the same weight – 5 points shy of a PSR – with nothing more to show for it but a C3 box and fancy armour. It’s still a walking ER PPC. To sum up 4 in-universe centuries of development, there’s only so far one can push a 4/6/4 Light Mech, and the Panther passed that point in the 3070s. As the 12KC is seemingly another ‘
Experten’ model with all that shiny new tech, expect the other Jihad variants to continue soldiering into the 3150s in the hands of more humble Mechwarriors.
Custom Variant and Schrodinger’s PanthersPNT-9R Panther
Tanaka – This ho-hum Solaris VII variant replaces the 9R’s PPC with a Large Laser and medium laser, making it a throwback to the 8Z ideal for arena brawling.
Now on to the funny stuff ;D
The first Panther variant existing in limbo is the DCMS Amphigean Light Assault Group Regiments’ custom model. It’s all the fault of this fluff line in Field Manual Draconis Combine, stating that these regiments “…often upgrade even traditional designs like the Panther to deliver better speed rather than more firepower.” No such record sheet or MUL entry exists, so custom Mech designers can try their hand at statting it out – it’s eminently doable.
The second case is trickier, and comes from another throwaway line, this time in TRO 3085’s Panther entry: “The PNT-12K2 is a variant of the 10K2 not the 12K…” No record sheet for this mysterious 12K exists,
but a MUL entry does. And so ladies and gentlemen, we have quantum! Now in all seriousness, the MUL’s BV and stats for this mythical PNT-12K and the PNT-12K2 covered above are identical, so this is probably just in need of a quick errata eliminating the duplicate variant.
Notable PilotsPerhaps because it is the more fighty of the Draconis Combine’s two iconic Light Mechs (the other being the Jenner), the Panther was the Light Mech of choice for Minobu Tetsuhara and Tomoe Sakade. Mercenary CO Ace Darwin famously piloted a pink Panther (har har).
During the Jihad, Heir-designate Hohiro Kurita also piloted a Panther at least once – swapping his usual Daishi for a bodyguard’s Panther, Hohiro tried to pull a fast Sun-Tzu Shuffle on the Blakists, but his deception was seen through by a Light of Mankind headhunter squad led by Opacus Venatori Adept Bryn Rivenschild, and he was ignominiously captured on Dieron. Not his best day. Hohiro's Panther was armed with a PPC, ruling out the 12A, but though it is a hair early to be the 16K variant, it’s not inconceivable for the Otomo to have been pioneers of the type, and I highly doubt either the Otomo or Hohiro would be swanning around war-torn Dieron in ancient Succession Wars-era gear. Readers may consider tricking out a custom Hohiro variant – bonus points for squeezing in command-and-control equipment.
Final ThoughtsComing out of the 3025 era where it reigned supreme, the various Panthers are hit-and-miss – personally scoring 5 Ayes and 6 Nays for me – and it’s definitely showing its age even by 3067. That said... it’s a great-looking Mech with a lot of history behind it. It’s an old soldier past its prime, a slow-walking PPC and not much else, but it’s got
flavour, it’s got
heritage, and, strictly IMHO, it’s got more class than the oh-so-shiny
nouveaux riches samurai-Mechs of the 3140s. Anybody campaigning in the Combine really needs to include at least one Panther in the game, preferably two.
What do you think?