Mastiff MBT (2972)
Mass: 60 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 240 Fusion
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
1 Machine Gun
1 Vehicular Grenade Launcher
2 LRM 5
1 Binary Laser (Blazer) Cannon
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 2972
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-E-F-E
Cost: 2,400,000 C-bills
Type: Mastiff MBT
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 60
Battle Value: 878
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 6
Engine 240 Fusion 17.5
Cruising MP: 4
Flanking MP: 6
Heat Sinks: 16 6
Control Equipment: 3
Power Amplifier: 0
Turret: 1.5
Armor Factor: 152 9.5
Internal
Structure Armor
Value
Front 6 40
R/L Side 6/6 30/30
Rear 6 22
Turret 6 30
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage
2 LRM 5 Turret 2 4
Vehicular Grenade Launcher Turret 1 0.5
Machine Gun Turret 1 0.5
Binary Laser Cannon Turret 4 9
LRM 5 Ammo (48) Body 2 2
Half Machine Gun Ammo (100) Body 1 0.5
Mastiff MBT (2867)
Mass: 60 tons
Movement Type: Tracked
Power Plant: 240 ICE
Cruising Speed: 43.2 kph
Maximum Speed: 64.8 kph
Armor: Standard
Armament:
1 Machine Gun
1 Vehicular Grenade Launcher
2 SRM 2
1 AC/10
Communication System: Unknown
Targeting & Tracking System: Unknown
Introduction Year: 2867
Tech Rating/Availability: E/X-E-F-E
Cost: 1,107,200 C-bills
Type: Mastiff MBT
Technology Base: Inner Sphere (Standard)
Tonnage: 60
Battle Value: 673
Equipment Mass
Internal Structure 6
Engine 240 ICE 23
Cruising MP: 4
Flanking MP: 6
Heat Sinks: 0 0
Control Equipment: 3
Power Amplifier: 0
Turret: 1.5
Armor Factor: 128 8
Internal
Structure Armor
Value
Front 6 32
R/L Side 6/6 25/25
Rear 6 20
Turret 6 26
Weapons
and Ammo Location Critical Tonnage
Vehicular Grenade Launcher Turret 1 0.5
Machine Gun Turret 1 0.5
2 SRM 2 Turret 2 2
AC/10 Turret 7 12
AC/10 Ammo (20) Body 2 2
SRM 2 Ammo (50) Body 1 1
Half Machine Gun Ammo (100) Body 1 0.5The Mastiff is a main battle tank produced by the Gumerian Diktat.
Background
Astute observers may notice that the Mastiff MBT looks nearly identical to old Crossroadian Bulldog MBTs. That is because, from a certain point of view, they are.
In the early 2860s, the Republic of Crossroad was looking to get rid of its old, obsolete military hardware to make room for newer and more effective designs. Low-tech, low-quality stock such as Bulldog MBTs were happily sold off to whichever of Crossroad's independent planet-states to its east were willing to purchase them.
However, a few shipments failed to reach their destination. During a shipment to Novarro in 2861, a Gazelle-class Dropship's life support suddenly failed, forcing its skeleton crew to the lifeboats. The Merchant-class Jumpship picked up the Gazelle crew with the aid of small craft and jumped back to Crossroad to drop off the crew and resupply, and when a new Jumpship crew was sent to salvage the abandoned Gazelle, they found it ransacked and stripped of all valuable items.
Gumerian spies were posted on Novarro and had informed the Diktat of the Gazelle situation, and their salvage teams pounced at the opportunity to uncover advanced Crossroadian technology. Though it turned out there was little especially advanced in the wreckage beyond the Dropship itself, the Bulldog cargo was nonetheless interesting, as they fit well with Gumerian war doctrine at the time of using cheap, rugged and expendable combat vehicles to overwhelm their smaller but more technologically advanced enemies, primarily the Mechani Alliance.
Gumerian development of the Mastiff was quick. By 2864, the Gumerians rolled out the first domestically produced prototypes, which were carbon copies of the original Bulldog pattern. Gumerians tweaked the design for a few more years to account for their laser production shortages, and in 2867 the first production Mastiffs were rolling out of the factories.
Capabilities
The 2867 Mastiff features similar capabilities to the Bulldog, despite having a different weapon loadout. Its 240 ICE powerplant is an exact replica of the original Bulldog's. An AC/10 with 2 tons of ammo acts as the main weapon of this model of Mastiff, boasting a slightly more powerful punch than the original Bulldog at the cost of having half of its SRM tubes. The loss of short-ranged firepower is partially compensated by moving the MG from the driver's port to the turret.
Defensively, the 2867 Mastiff has 8 tons of armor, 1.5 tons more than the Bulldog, and a Vehicular Grenade Launcher is typically loaded with smoke for good measure. These upgrades make the Mastiff arguably a better tank than the original that it copied- a rarity for the Gumerian procurement process.
The 2972 model is an elite (by Gumerian standards) upgrade to the standard Mastiff. The use of a new 240 SFE powerplant provides enough power to replace the armament with a Binary Laser Cannon and two LRM-5 packs. The coaxial machinegun and VGL system also remain. Rounded out with an extra 1.5 tons of armor, the 2972 Mastiff represents some of the best the Gumerian Diktat could offer at the time.
Despite these upgrades, the Mastiff inadvertently demonstrated the Gumerian Diktat's late 30th century predicament. The best that the Gumerians could field in 2972 was roughly the best that the Mechani Alliance could field one and a half centuries ago: Nowadays their rival was fielding equipment with similar sophistication to the long-deceased Star League, while their other potential enemy, the Republic of Crossroad, was fielding even more sophisticated vehicle designs. The Diktat's historical advantage in manufacturing was turning into a handicap as only a few factories could handle their more advanced designs; most of their aging infrastructure was locked into lower-tech vehicles like the 2867 model Mastiff or even primitive Retrotech vehicles, none of which would fare well against modern opponents.
Deployment
Mastiffs were used during the 1st Gumerian War (2994-3000), where both the older 2867 and modern 2972 versions made up a significant chunk of the Gumerian armored corps. The 2972 Mastiffs (as well as other Gumerian vehicles) were hyped as "Mech Killers" by their propaganda, namely due to their blazer cannons having enough stopping power to consistently behead a Battlemech in one blow. While the gun did increase their threat to Battlemechs somewhat, the usual approach by the Mechani Alliance forces was to engage outside of the effective range of their Blazer cannons.
Mastiffs were also used during the short 2nd Gumerian War (3017-3018), which ended abruptly in a multi-factional civil war that effectively destroyed the Gumerian Diktat as a political entity. Their influence lives on, however, as the Diktat's successor states continue to fight among each other with the defunct Gumerian Diktat's massive stockpiles of war material, including divisions worth of Mastiff MBTs and other war machines.
