Hey, not sure if this has been discussed before but I was just reading the Battle of Tukayyid book since I'm in a campaign where I'll be running Clan Nova Cat.
Anyway, something occurred to me. Back when I was reading about the battle in the 90s, the description given said that the Nova Cats lost basically because they were too slow and cautious with heading toward their objectives. Was the destruction of the Cat's Maw a retcon?
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't see why both explanations can't be true. Perhaps they were being overly cautious because they'd lost some 40% of their forces right out of the gate, and hoped to keep their remaining 'Mechs in fighting shape as long as possible. Considering that the
Cat's Maw apparently carried most of the Nova Cats' ammunition and logistical equipment, and that we know the Nova Cat front of the battle of Tukayyid inflicted the greatest ComGuard losses of the battle, a picture begins to emerge...
Assuming that both the
Cat's Maw getting kamikaze'd happened, and that the Nova Cat loss was due to their caution, we have a scenario in which the Nova Cats lost most of Alpha Galaxy before they even set a paw on Tukayyid and
were still capable of achieving their wargoals, if they had marshalled all their remaining forces in a blitzkrieg strike. In that scenario, they would have had a good chance to take at least one, if not both, of their objectives. This is a pretty significant look at A, just how poorly IS tech of the era compared to Clantech, and B, just how good Clan Nova Cat's Warriors and materiel are. Or, if you really think like a Clanner, that they could've bid away a lot more of their force and stolen the honor of landing first from the Smoke Jaguars.