The Jenner is a fast, well-armed light mech. Initially used only by the Draconis Combine, it’s eventually spread to somewhat broader use, though still very much primarily a Kuritan mech. Running a mixture of lasers and missiles, it’s typically able to combine speed and weapons through lighter armor coverage, operating under the principle that if your opponent is dead they can’t shoot back. While it does tend to be a little bit on the expensive side, the combination works out well enough – it’s fast enough to flank most opponents while not being an easy target for just a handful of guns, and does enough damage to be a real threat once it’s there.

Peri: The Jenner is a theoretically great striker light. Most variants carry a lot of gun for their weight. It is also adorable. Something about having regular dude legs on a mech that really looks like it should have chicken legs is just very funny and cute looking. It has “just a little guy” energy.

Chassis

The Jenner is a battlemech, so different variants will be running different armor types and amounts, different engines, and different structure. That said, most of them run a 7/11/5 profile, or similar. 5 jump is enough to use them to skip over obstacles, but mostly keeps you from deciding that jumping all the time is a good plan (it’s never a good plan), and cuts down BV bloat.

Peri: The Jenner weighs in at 35 tons which means that there is theoretically a lot of room inside of here for a light mech. This does run the risk of actually putting too much BV on the mech though. 35 tons is exactly enough to start to cram in a lot of guns while still going fast. Being fast is comparatively “cheap” for a light mech when it comes to tonnage, so 35 ton light mechs can get really fast and really well armed, which makes them comparatively expensive for their durability. This can be a really bad combo if your opponent has good light mech hunters.

Variants

These mechs have all been reviewed based on a standard F through S scale, which you can find described on our landing page here (along with all of our other ‘mech reviews, the name of the box you can buy to get any of the mechs we have covered, and our general methodology).

JR7-D

The base model Jenner, this variant runs four medium lasers and an SRM-4. Quite a bit more firepower than most light mechs, though only 10 heat sinks limits it significantly – firing just the lasers at a run is already at +4. That’s fine, but it means you slow down if you want to add in the SRMs or fire repeatedly, so you’re best off not sticking around much. If you do have great shots and want to fire everything, try to make sure there’s some cover you can use the jump jets to reach. The very light armor coverage (only about 50% of max) means you absolutely have to keep your TMM up, and makes the 875 BV a bit of a tough sell. It really rewards good piloting.

My rating: C+

Peri: The base model Jenner suffers really heavily from both heat and BV. It is hard to make good use of all of that gun or those jump jets when you only have 10 single heat sinks. The armor is also extremely poor for 35 tons. JR7-D’s have enough gun that your opponent will want to kill them and enough armor that they easily can. You could get a really solid Spider or Fire Moth for this BV, and those mechs will probably do better due to reduced heat issues and higher consistent TMMs.

My rating: D

JR7-A

This variant has nothing but a large laser for weaponry and for some reason extra heat sinks (which really should be extra armor). 712 BV is too expensive to be worth it for an initiative sink, and a single large laser isn’t enough harassment damage.

My rating: D

Peri: Counterpoint, this mech is hilarious. Like, it is really terrible, but it is insanely funny to just have a little dork with no armor and no soul running around with a mediocre big gun. I have never used it on the table but if you spammed a bunch of them it’d be really funny before you lost the game. If you want a good version of this, the light gauss rifle Wolfhound is a much better execution of this idea.

JR7-C

The first of four C3 variants (you can tell this is a Kuritan mech), this is a JR7-D that trades a medium laser for C3, and uses ferro fibrous armor to fit CASE for the SRM ammo. Given the heat problems of the JR7-D, this is totally worth it even outside of C3. 832 BV is a bit cheaper than the -D while generally putting out the same firepower, just losing a little bit of potential spike damage.

My rating: C++ (It’s better than the -D but still not really a standout mech)

JR7-C2

Next up, we’ve used a small cockpit (eww), XL engine, and XL gyro to cram nearly full armor (yay), an extra jump jet (bringing it up to 7/11/6), and three MML 5s in. Now, in addition to being reasonably durable it can dump an awful lot of SRMs into something, use LRMs to contribute damage if it needs to stay outside an ECM bubble for the C3, and carries a third ton of ammo for either inferno or smoke rounds. All for a bargain price of 769 BV. Just don’t get kicked.

My rating: B

Peri: This is actually my most commonly used Jenner on the table. Even outside of a C3 network, triple MML-5 for 769 BV is a really good price. It has enough ammo to load Infernos, LRMs, and SRMs, which gives you a huge amount of flexibility. I am a huge fan of Infernos and the C2 pretty reliably caps out that +15 heat in my experience. I have seen one of these perma-overheat a 733 Highlander, preventing it from sinking enough heat to cool off and do anything. I really wish this mech had the extra jump jet, but that is the only significant problem here. Damn good mech for the price. I am still going to rate it lower than Jack, because I dislike the Jenner chassis and don’t really find any Jenner to be better than comparable light mech options.

My rating: B-

JR7-C3

The C3 for some reason comes out a couple years earlier than the C2, and rather than going deep into missiles it just runs four ER medium lasers. Generally not as interesting, with both lower total damage potential and a lack of crit seeking, it does have slightly better range (not that there’s a ton of difference on a 7/11 chassis). It’s running slightly lighter if still adequate armor and is back down to 5 jump instead of 6, which makes costing 1,069 BV a tough pill to swallow in comparison.

My rating: D

JR7-C4

The fourth version of the C3 equipped Jenner, this one is only carrying a pair of MML 5s. While that does let it keep good armor from the C2, get all the way up to 7 jump, and carry a C3 boosted slave instead (so it can act as a master for a bit (CGL please get with the times and move away from master/slave)). 703 BV is cheaper, but the increased jump distance and C3BS isn’t worth the firepower loss.

My rating: D

JR7-F

Backing away from the advanced tech, this is another succession wars variant that this time trades the SRM 4 for armor. Between the armor and loss of ammo it’s now a lot more durable, and as with the -C variant dropping a weapon works better with the heat profile. Unfortunately, that does mean with the extra armor it costs a lot more – this one is up to 1,011 BV.

My rating: C

Peri: The 7-F is indicative of the general issue with the Jenner. It can either have poor armor, good guns, and middling light mech BV, or it can have decent armor, decent guns, and cost way the hell too much. The 7-F seems great, high damage, and fairly durable, but it will basically never actually get 1000 BV worth of value with only 4 basic medium lasers.

My rating: D+

JR7-K

The first advanced tech upgrade to the JR7-D, all this does is trade the standard armor for ferro fibrous and add CASE. It drops two points of armor, which just means that an AC/10 will go internal rather than merely stripping all CT armor, while CASE and a standard engine means it can survive an ammo explosion. At 889 BV it’s only 14 BV more than the JR7-D, and should be used instead whenever possible.

My rating: C+

JR7-N

This is the most straightforward upgrade to the JR7-D. Medium lasers are bumped up to ER mediums, it picks up near full armor coverage, goes up to 7 jump, and has 11 double heatsinks, retaining the SRM 4. I’d rather it had a second ton of SRM ammo instead of the beagle active probe, but it’s an entirely competent mech without any significant flaws. At 1,233 BV it’s expensive for its weight, but it does its job reliably.

My rating: B+

Peri: Being blunt, 1233 BV is enough to get a Wraith, Phoenix Hawk 3PL, a pair of Spider 9Ms, and it is nearly enough to get a Gunsmith or an Incubus 3. There are infinitely better options in the fast energy boat role for a very similar price, with more armor and superior firepower. There is nothing about the 7-N that makes it a better choice compared to the sea of other high quality choices you have in this role.

My rating: C-

JR10-X

An experimental upgraded Jenner, this is running six medium lasers, null-signature system, composite structure, a compact gyro, and a torso cockpit. It’s already making my head hurt. The NSS will protect it while it closes, but needs to be turned off to actually make use of all six lasers (and the very short range of regular medium lasers means you’ll be well into most opponents short range before your weapons are effective). 1,269 BV is too expensive for whatever it’s trying to do.

My rating: D

JR7-D (Webster)

A new variant just released in Force Manual Kurita, this is a simple upgrade to the JR7-D that adds in double heat sinks, a seventh jump jet, and trades the SRMs for another two medium lasers (all of which are in arms that can flip). It’s great – 18 heat of medium lasers, sinking 20, just run around and backstab people all day long. Still has light armor, but only costs 1,086 BV.

My rating: B

Peri: This mech is way too expensive for what it is but it is decently functional and 30 potential points of heat neutral damage for 1000-ish BV is a pretty reasonable rate.

My rating: C-

JR7-F (Smith)

Another variant with six medium lasers, this one does not put them all in the arms or upgrade to double heat sinks, instead dropping jump jets for armor. While it’s got high alpha, firing everything drops it to a 5/8 with no jump jets on the following turn. At 1,070 BV there’s absolutely no reason to use this instead of the Webster variant.

My rating: D

JR7-K (Grace)

Two medium lasers and a Narc are the extent of the weaponry on this. Narc missiles aren’t great, so this isn’t particularly effective at doing anything, and 702 BV is more than you want to spend for something that’s mostly an initiative sink.

My rating: D-

JR7-K (Grace II)

It’s the same thing but with light PPCs instead of medium lasers. I dunno who Grace is, but she should make better choices on her mechs. Even up at 787 BV I think this one is actually a little better than her first mech, but still doesn’t actually do anything useful.

My rating: D-

JR7-K (Samuli)

Four medium lasers and an LRM-15 at 1,001 BV. It’s a unique direction to take a Jenner, and I don’t hate it. While it’s not going to be part of a battle line any time soon, the missiles let it contribute while it flanks, and the four medium lasers continue to be enough damage that your opponent needs to pay enough attention that it can’t get behind them.

My rating: C

Conclusion

The Jenner settled on a good formula with the basic mech, and variants that continued to be quick backstabbers work well. I’m not a fan of anything that trades out the mobility or firepower, but beyond the basic JR7-D picking up the Webster, JR7-N, or JR7-C2 offer three different ways to keep it effective into later eras and different playstyles.

Peri: The Jenner is a bit of a dud of a light mech. As a proud Kuritan nationalist this hurts me more to say than you could possibly imagine. The issue with the Jenner is, for lack of a better term, power creep. For the most part the Jenner is exactly the same as it was in 3025, even when upgraded. Non-pulse lasers, SRMs, and too much BV. Light mechs are very good in BattleTech and the overwhelming majority of light mechs have gotten variants that really tune them up and make them into murderously efficient and cheap little bastard engines. The Jenner just hasn’t gotten a decent glowup, something with Pulse Lasers, better mobility, or particularly good durability. I really want to love it but every time I have used anything but the C2 it has massively disappointed me.

This is not a cheap, efficient beater, it isn’t a murderous little striker or a light mech hunter. It is just an overly expensive, overly fragile little dork that spends most of its time warming my case. If you are going to take one, the C2 is far and away the best choice. It has a low price, good utility, decent damage output, and a clear role to play as a crit hunter and Inferno truck. I want to love the Jenner and I want to use it. I yearn to honor the dragon with a sea of Jenners and Panthers. Even the C2 is kind of just a shittier mech than a Javelin 12N, which is about the same price but will die much less often.

CGL, give me a Jenner with some X-Pulse lasers and my life is yours!

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