ALLEY CAT (PANTHER IIC) & TORTOISESHELL (PANTHER IIC 2)

[Natasha Kerensky]

When the Draconis Combine gave Clan Nova Cat a home in the Inner Sphere for the Clan’s support of the Second Star League and actions against Clan Smoke Jaguar, Clantech upgrades to the venerable Panther became a natural joint project for cementing the partnership.  Although several prototypes were delayed and discarded due to the distractions of the Combine-Ghost Bear War, the Jihad, and post-Jihad demilitarization, two standard models — a high-performance frontline variant and a low-cost garrison unit — emerged and went into production as threats multiplied in the early years of the Dark Age.

Named the Alley Cat, the frontline model integrates design elements from several prior Panthers with a diverse set of Clan technologies.  Like the PNT-10x, -12x, -14x, and -16x Series, the Alley Cat is built around an endo-steel chassis.  Like the ancient PNT-9ALAG used by the Amphigean Light Assault Groups, the Alley Cat boosts its top speed to over 85kph.  And like the PNT-13K, the Alley Cat incorporates Improved Jump Jet technology for a jump range of over 200 meters.  The Nova Cats then wrapped the Alley Cat in maximally thick Laser Reflective armor, making the design practically immune to  opponents like the Wolfhound and lighter Clan omnimechs that historically posed the greatest threat to the Panther. 

Offensively, the Alley Cat trades in the various PPCs used by Panthers for a Clantech ER model and boosts its damage potential with salvaged Blakist PPC Capacitor technology and its accuracy with Actuator Enhancement System technology obtained in trade with Clan Wolf-in-Exile.  The Alley Cat also replaces the old, heavy, SRM four-packs used by Panthers with a larger yet lighter Clantech six-pack.  With Clantech freezers, the Alley Cat can fire its ER PPC with the Capacitor or the SRM-6 pack while jumping without negative heat effects.

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                 BattleMech Technical Readout

Name/Model:           ALLEY CAT (PANTHER IIC)
Technology Base:      Clan (Mixed)
Tonnage:              35
Configuration:        Biped BattleMech
Era/Year:             ilClan/3135+
Rules:                Advanced
Chassis:              Alshain 5600-Carrier Endo-Steel C
Power Plant:          175 Extralight
Walking Speed:        54 kph
Maximum Speed:        86 kph
Jump Jets:            Lexington Heavy Lifters Improved
    Jump Capacity:    210 meters
Armor:                Gamma Special Reflective
Armament:             
    1 ER PPC w/ Capacitor
    1 SRM-6 Pack
Manufacturer:         Wakazashi Enterprises, Alshain Weapons, IBU
    Primary Factory:  New Samarkand, Alshain/New Oslo/Tok Do, Angel II
Communications:       Sipher CommCon SCU-4
Targeting & Tracking: Cat’s Eyes-5

================================================================================================
Equipment                                                             Mass                     
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure:                         Endo-Steel                 2.00             
Engine:                                   175 Extralight               3.50               
    Walking MP:                                  5                                         
    Running MP:                                  8                                     
    Jumping MP:                                  7                                       
Heat Sinks:                                    10(20)                  0.00               
Gyro:                                        Standard                  2.00                   
Cockpit:                                     Standard                  3.00                     
Armor Factor:                                  112                     7.00               
    Type:                                Laser-Reflective                                           

                                    Internal         Armor     
                                    Structure        Value     
    Head:                               3              9       
    Center Torso:                      11             16
    Center Torso (rear):                               5   
    R/L Torso:                          8             10
    R/L Torso (rear):                                  4
    R/L Arm:                            6             12
    R/L Leg:                            8             15

Actuators:  RH, RLA, RUA, RS, LH, LLA, LUA, LS

================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo                                       Location          Critical     Tonnage   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ER PPC                                                     RA                2          6.00
PPC Capacitor                                              RA                1          1.00
Actuator Enhancement System                                RA                1          1.00
SRM-6                                                      CT                1          1.50
Ammo (SRM) 15                                              LT                1          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          RT                2          1.00   
Improved Jump Jet                                          RT                2          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          LT                2          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          LT                2          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          LT                2          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          RL                2          1.00
Improved Jump Jet                                          LL                2          1.00
================================================================================================



With its large engine and improved jump jets, the Alley Cat is a frontline unit designed for rapid, offensive operations.  For defensive garrison work, the Nova Cats and Combine developed a less mobile but better protected variant called the Torstoiseshell.   The Tortoiseshell retains the Alley Cat’s endo-steel chassis, but trades the Alley Cat’s Laser-Reflective Armor for 13 tons of Hardened Armor, which gives the Tortoiseshell the effective armor protection of a heavy battlemech.  The Hardened Armor is also slightly unbalanced between the arms to best protect the Tortoiseshell’s main gun.  To make room for the Hardened Armor, the Tortoiseshell replaces the Alley Cat’s engine and improved jump jets with the Panther’s traditional 140-rated fusion engine and 120-meter jump capability.  Although the Tortoiseshell retains the Alley Cat’s ER PPC and SRM six-pack, the weapons loadout is simplified by removing the PPC Capacitor and moving the Actuator Enhancement System to the legs, ensuring that even green mechwarriors can keep the Tortoiseshell and its heavy armor upright in combat.

Despite the near-annihilation of the Nova Cats at the end of the Dark Age, the Alley Cat and Tortoiseshell were preserved by their victors and have even proliferated across the Inner Sphere.  The Draconis Combine maintained Alley Cat and Tortoiseshell production on New Samarkand and Tok Do, while the Ghost Bears used the designs to upgrade their ancient Panther lines on Alshain and New Oslo.  The Spirit Cats brought specs and samples with them to League space and have worked with Irian BattleMechs Unlimited to start manufacturing both designs on Angel II alongside the Guillotine IIC and Juliano.

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                 BattleMech Technical Readout

Name/Model:           TORTOISESHELL (PANTHER IIC 2)
Technology Base:      Clan (Mixed)
Tonnage:              35
Configuration:        Biped BattleMech
Era/Year:             ilClan/3135+
Rules:                Advanced
Chassis:              Alshain 5600-Carrier Endo-Steel C
Power Plant:          140 XL
Walking Speed:        46 kph
Maximum Speed:        54 kph
Jump Jets:            Lexington Heavy Lifters
    Jump Capacity:    120 meters
Armor:                New Samarkand Teppeki Hardened
Armament:             
    1 ER PPC
    1 SRM-6 Pack
Manufacturer:         Wakazashi Enterprises, Alshain Weapons, IBU
    Primary Factory:  New Samarkand, Alshain/New Oslo/Tok Do, Angel II
Communications:       Sipher CommCon SCU-4
Targeting & Tracking: Cat’s Eyes-5

================================================================================================
Equipment                                                             Mass                     
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Internal Structure:                         Endo-Steel                 2.00             
Engine:                                       140 XL                   2.50           
    Walking MP:                                  4                                         
    Running MP:                                  5                               
    Jumping MP:                                  4                                     
Heat Sinks:                                    10(20)                  0.00               
Gyro:                                        Standard                  2.00                   
Cockpit:                                     Standard                  3.00                     
Armor Factor:                                   104                   13.00       
    Type:                                    Hardened                                           

                                    Internal         Armor     
                                    Structure        Value     
    Head:                               3              9       
    Center Torso:                      11             15
    Center Torso (rear):                               5
    R/L Torso:                          8             10
    R/L Torso (rear):                                  4
    R/L Arm:                            6            10/7
    R/L Leg:                            8             15

Actuators:  RH, RLA, RUA, RS, LH, LLA, LUA, LS

================================================================================================
Weapons and Ammo                                       Location          Critical     Tonnage   
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
ER PPC                                                     RA                2          6.00
SRM-6                                                      CT                1          1.50
Ammo (SRM) 15                                              LT                1          1.00   
Jump Jet                                                   RT                1          0.50               
Jump Jet                                                   LT                1          0.50
Jump Jet                                                   RL                1          0.50   
Jump Jet                                                   LL                1          0.50   
Actuator Enhancement System                                RL                1          1.00
Actuator Enhancement System                                LL                1          1.00         
================================================================================================


[Tyler Jorgensson]

I’m not a fan of Reflec but those are two damn near perfect Panthers…. Of course nothing can’t be improved with Clan Tech but still hot damn.

[Natasha Kerensky]

I’m not a fan of Reflec

Yeah, it has to be very carefully used on mechs.  The mech has to be fast or mobile enough — and its weapons long-ranged enough — to avoid melee combat.  And no Small Cockpits, XL Gyros, or poor piloting skills to avoid falls.  And you still have to watch your initiative order and keep an eye on how close enemy brawlers are getting.  But with a 7MP jump and an ER PPC w/ AES, the Alley Cat has what it needs to use its Reflec Armor effectively and stay out of trouble.

I also like Reflec Armor on the Alley Cat because it neuters the laser arrays of the Panther’s traditional enemy, the Wolfhound.  And the Reflec Armor should also be useful against most Clan opponents.

but those are two damn near perfect Panthers…. Of course nothing can’t be improved with Clan Tech but still hot damn.

Thanks, TJ.  I actually just updated theTortoiseshell — kept going back and forth between Ballistic-Reinforced and Hardened Armor and finally settled on Hardened.  Basically a smaller, cheaper, jump-capable Hammerhead.

Some credit to Kojak who asked for a couple optimized Panthers.

[Kojak]

These are both pretty gnarly, and great re-use of that Plog art on the first one.

[Natasha Kerensky]

These are both pretty gnarly, and great re-use of that Plog art on the first one.

Thanks, K.  I’ve also been playing with a dual ER PPC variant with twin PPC capacitors that can send a 20-point hit 23 hexes downrange every turn.  Too much a glass cannon so far for me to post.  But if I get it to work, I’ll let you know.  Hope these two fit the bill.

And yeah, the cat’s head cockpit and shiny black armor in Plog’s art really looks like a Nova Cat interpretation of a Panther with Reflec (or stealthy) Armor.

Doing these made me wonder why the Nova Cats and Combine never did a joint Panther upgrade in the canon.  Seems obvious in retrospect.

[Tyler Jorgensson]

Thanks, K.  I’ve also been playing with a dual ER PPC variant with twin PPC capacitors that can send a 20-point hit 23 hexes downrange every turn.  Too much a glass cannon so far for me to post.  But if I get it to work, I’ll let you know.  Hope these two fit the bill.

And yeah, the cat’s head cockpit and shiny black armor in Plog’s art really looks like a Nova Cat interpretation of a Panther with Reflec (or stealthy) Armor.

Doing these made me wonder why the Nova Cats and Combine never did a joint Panther upgrade in the canon.  Seems obvious in retrospect.

Because the Combines treatment of the Nova Cats was worse than the Ghost Bears treatment of them, barring a couple of exceptions.

Problem with a dual ER  PPC  mech that’s a light is either speed, DHS, or armor that suffers. A base Panther with 4/6 loses in the speed but to mount two with capacitors is a LOT of heat. I’ll have to give it a try myself.

[Daryk]

It's not that much heat if used as Natasha outlines... 

[Tyler Jorgensson]

It's not that much heat if used as Natasha outlines... 

True and every time I look at double capacitor designs I think my line of thinking and forget that that line of thinking works extremely better in actual practice. I’m sorry if I like slapping the Alpha Strike Button

[Dakkath]

Doing these made me wonder why the Nova Cats and Combine never did a joint Panther upgrade in the canon.  Seems obvious in retrospect.

You'd think between the HoNoR!i! on one side and hOnOr1!1 on the other they'd get along great.

[DOC_Agren]

?? on the Tortoiseshell, why Actuator Enhancement System in LA too?

[Natasha Kerensky]

Because the Combines treatment of the Nova Cats was worse than the Ghost Bears treatment of them, barring a couple of exceptions.

That was certainly true after the Cats sided with losers in the Combine line of succession during the Combine Civil War circa 3137 and got the sterilization/resettlement treatment, and probably before that when the Cats got the reservation treatment around the turn of the century.  But depending on where the downturn in relations exactly happened, the Cats and Combine had some decades to work together and did so on designs like those at the Luthien Armor Works plants on Irece and Avon.  Even as late as 3133, they were working on the Avalanche together.  Just because of the relevance of its name to the Cats and its ubiquity in the DCMS, a partial or full Clantech Panther variant seems like an missed opportunity obvious in retrospect for Cat/Combine cooperation prior to their falling out.

Problem with a dual ER  PPC  mech that’s a light is either speed, DHS, or armor that suffers. A base Panther with 4/6 loses in the speed but to mount two with capacitors is a LOT of heat. I’ll have to give it a try myself.

A dual Capped ER PPC 35-tonner is doable, but at 4/6/4 speed and with no special armor protection, it’s not very survivable in “modern” BT combat.  It would be a classic case of a semi-worthless, quick-dying slow light mech, as covered in other threads.  I think something with better movement modifiers and/or armor, like the Alley Cat or Tortoiseshell above, is necessary to bring the Panther into the 32nd century.

[Natasha Kerensky]

Yeah, if you alternate the ER PPCs, you’re running 25 heat points per turn (one ER PPC firing, one Capacitor firing, and one Capacitor charging), not 40 points (alpha strike both ER PPCs and both capacitors).  But even with XLE, endo-steel, and ferro-fibrous, there’s still not enough tonnage leftover to boost movement modifiers or employ a specialty armor properly.  Maybe just increase the tonnage to the low-end medium range, find the tonnage for speed or armor that way, and still call it a Panther.

Here’s a Starslayer that employs this alternating Clantech ER PPC and PPC Capacitor setup to send 20-point hits up to 23 hexes downrange every turn:

SUNKILLER (STARSLAYER IIC) —> https://bg.battletech.com/forums/battlemechs/sunkiller-starslayer-iic/

I’d like to find a way to put this setup on a 5/8+, maximally armored, light mech without resorting to an XXL engine or the like.  But so far, it seems to require a medium chassis.

[Natasha Kerensky]

You'd think between the HoNoR!i! on one side and hOnOr1!1 on the other they'd get along great.

They did for some decades.  Just too bad the Panther was never part of that cooperation before the lights went out for the Nova Cats.  Of course, the Combine could just take the Clantech they have today and/or order from the Foxes and do their own super-Panther upgrade.

[Natasha Kerensky]

?? on the Tortoiseshell, why Actuator Enhancement System in LA too?

Just a choice to make the designs as different from each other as possible.  But I agree, you could drop a ton of the Hardened Armor without harming the Tortoiseshell’s defenses much and use that to buy an AES for the right arm ER PPC.  That would fit with its role as a garrison mech and help boost the gunnery of its likely green pilots.

[Dragon Cat]

Is it just me... or does the top picture (which I like) not look quite a bit like a Power Ranger suit of armour?

Serious note I like both variants and that the Spirit Cats nicked them

[Natasha Kerensky]

Is it just me... or does the top picture (which I like) not look quite a bit like a Power Ranger suit of armour?

Yeah, putting the cockpit in the cat’s “mouth” does that.

Serious note I like both variants and that the Spirit Cats nicked them

Thanks, DC.  I agree on Spirit Cats.  The Clan Protectorate should be pumping out more than Guillotine IICs and some Streak six-packs for the Juliano.  I want Sphinxes, Supernovas, Nova Cat omnis, etc.  And bring back the Vision Quest!

[Dragon Cat]

A new Vision Quest for a new era would be nice