Howdy, incompetent and weak IlKhans, and welcome back to the Irate Kitty! A couple of weeks ago we covered the pre-Dark Age Mad Cats, and that by default leaves the post-Dark Ages Mad Cats. The Mad Cat is a franchise that will not stop and the artist formerly known as Diamond Shark will continue supplying endless heaps of the damn things until time ends.

I am going to assume that you have already read the first part, and more or less know what Mad Cats are like. This was originally one mega-article before being split so it is best seen as a companion to that piece. Do not expect the mental stability to have improved at all from the end of that one.

The Dark Ages did weird things to the Mad Cat. The OG Timber Wolf continued to get the occasional new variant, but WizKids made a chibi spinoff and a derivative sequel that just share the exact same role, appearance, and theoretically the same market? I have no idea why this is the case and there is a vague canonical implication that the Diamond Sharks just made smaller and larger Mad Cats because the in-universe fandom for the Mad Cat was just strong enough to buy “Mad Cat, but it is small” or “Mad Cat, but it is an F-22.” For whatever reason, the implication that military planners and procurement officers in the Inner Sphere are so traumatized by the Mad Cat that they will automatically buy anything shaped like a Mad Cat makes me cackle.

Mad Cat III

Why is this one the III and not the MkIII? Am I going senile? I swear to god yesterday this mech was called the MkIII. I shifted into another timeline where WizKids managed to make even weirder fucking decisions. Is MWDA still Clix based or is this the timeline where it is a Dragon Dice spinoff?

The Mad Cat III is a baffling fucking mech. It is functionally a Timber Wolf-shaped Stormcrow. It isn’t an Omni-Mech, and is a 55 ton medium mech. The idea of making a Mad Cat knock-off but making it smaller, lighter, and theoretically shittier at fighting is just so weird to me. I don’t really 100% understand the rationale behind the existence of this thing other than some Vulpes Maritimus Strana Mechtis merchant having a really good marketing idea. The Mad Cat MkII was at least theoretically an even scarier, more badass destroyer of men and seducer of also men than the base Timber Wolf.

This is the Scrappy Doo of Mad Cats, a smaller, shittier version of the Mad Cat made as, I don’t know, a demented chibi sidekick for the Savage Wolf. There is very little reason this mech had to be a Mad Cat. It is absolutely adorable, though, unlike Scrappy Doo.

Anyway, variants, that is the thing we do here.

Variants

These tiny boys 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).

Mad Cat III Standard

The base model “Prime” version of the Mad Cat III is 2400 BV even. It is a 55 ton mech. We are off to a wild start. Moving 6/9/0, this small cat has 6 ER micro lasers, 4 ER medium lasers, and 2 LRM-20s with Artemis V, which is the good Artemis that gives the to hit bonus. It has reasonable armor, a hair thin for a battle line mech but actually fairly thick for a 6/9/0 mover. This is actually kind of a good mech. LRM-20s with Artemis V are really scary weapons, this mech has enough ammo to fire as much as it wants, and it has a lot of fucking lasers for when things get close. It could have heat issues, if you fire everything at once, but it is a bit less bad here than usual. It would probably be better off not having the ERML, which would bring it down a few hundred BV, but as-is this is not a terrible medium mech. This is basically just a Stormcrow variant with slightly different armor, and the Stormcrow is a genuinely good mech. I actually think that, despite being a grotesquely expensive medium mech, this is actually usable. Not great, but usable.

Rating: C+

Mad Cat III 2

Not to be confused with the Mad Cat MkII 3, the Mad Cat III 2 is fucking awesome. Costing a bargain bin 1697 BV, this is a properly cheap mech. For that BV, you get slightly thicker armor, the same speed, and great weapons for a 6/9/0 mech to have. We have 2 medium pulse lasers, 6 micro pulse lasers, and 4 SRM-6s with Artemis V! This is an incredible amount of mid-short range firepower, all coming in at a to hit bonus, for a low price on a fast, well-armored Clan Medium. It is very low on ammo like all Mad Cat IIIs, but unlike the various LRM dork ones, it has one more shot and its limited ammo guns are short ranged focused, so you will be firing less often than you would be firing an LRM.

I have no notes; this might be one of the best skirmishers in the game for the price. You are getting a lot of damage for not a lot of BV. Take 2 of them.

Rating: A

Mad Cat III 3

Double 3 here is 2515 BV. This is a bad thing. It carries an ER PPC, 2 ER medium lasers, and 2 LRM-20s. It downgrades the LRM-20s from Artemis V to Artemis IV, which is a significant downgrade. It does have much thicker armor, but it is also fairly under-sinked and carries very little LRM ammo. It overheats when firing its long range guns, all of which have identical range brackets, which is an automatic unforgivable sin because if you have long range guns with the same range brackets, you should be designed to fire all the fucking guns in that range bracket at the same time. This sucks and it should feel bad. It is a bad Stormcrow. Use a Stormcrow.

Rating: F but it’ll probably kill something if pressed, it is just such a bad use of BV. If you want a 2500 BV ER PPC loser that overheats, get one that is an assault mech at least so you have some armor to protect you while you limp away tanking heat penalties.

Mad Cat III 4

Costing 2061 BV, this is a lot like the Standard. You get very nearly the exact same armor as a Stormcrow, so a bit different and thicker to the base model, but the weapons are familiar. You get 2 LRM-20s with not enough ammo and no Artemis because fuck you, you were a bad kid this year and the IlKhan has taken away your good LRM privileges. For backup guns, we have 2 ER medium lasers, 4 ER micro lasers, 2 ER small lasers for some fucking reason and an anti missile system with some nice, cozy center torso ammo so you can explode on command.

Also this mech is also completely heat neutral, but spends that heat neutrality on a mix of guns that don’t share range brackets, 2 of which it can only fire 6 times before going in bad Clan mech jail and 4 of which are only good at bayonet range. This is hilariously bad. These mechs feel like the monkey’s paw twitching and writhing at my repeated statements that I love heat neutral medium mechs, because these are the worst imaginable ways to spend all that heat capacity. Avoid this one.

Rating: Remember when Mad Cats were good? F.

Mad Cat III 5

Costing 2095 BV, 5 here has thicker armor, a fuckton of heat sinks for some reason, and moves 6/9/5. This mech is heat neutral at a jump, but I kinda wish it wasn’t? For weaponry, we have 2 medium heavy lasers, which suck because of the +1 to hit penalty, and 2 LRM-20s with no Artemis V and only one ton of ammo each. So, you have inaccurate weapons and also not enough ammo but hey, you won’t overheat. The fact that a mech with 2 fucking heavy lasers with no accuracy mitigation is designed to jump constantly with a totally heat neutral design is just a farce. Yes Mech Design Person, I want to get a +4 to hit my target in exchange for giving my opponent a +3. This mech ruins the 5 hex jump break point and it is just awful. 6/9/5 is weird, it has no ammo, it can’t hit anything if you are using it as it is clearly designed to be used, and I hate it.

Rating: F, horrible at its intended role and only of marginal use if you ignore that role.

Mad Cat III-X

Oh shit we are abandoning the normal number codes! Chaos reigns!

Sonic-X is almost identical to the Standard. For 2232 BV you lose 2 ER micro lasers and downgrade 2 ER medium lasers to ER small lasers for some fucking reason. You also have marginally thinner armor, but that armor is upgraded to Ferro-Lamellor. Ferro Lam has a really strong damage reduction effect, and the way the math works out on this mech it has slightly thicker effective armor everywhere, and against SRMs and LBX pellets it is vastly, unreasonably more durable than the Standard. This is slightly cheaper, keeps the good parts of the Standard, those being the Artemis V LRMs, and it is more durable against any weapon not called an RE laser. This is a genuinely good medium mech and a great upgrade to the Standard.

Rating: B

Mad Cat III Eve

Huh. For 2393 BV, this special mech variant of some random Republic of the Sphere pilot I have never heard of is deeply interesting. You get an ER PPC, 2 ER medium lasers, 2 LRM-10s with Artemis IV, and a TAG for some reason. The thing that makes this interesting is that the energy weapons are linked to a targeting computer. It also has pretty thick armor, and a 6/9/0 cavalry mech for 2393 that has good heat management, a good mix of guns for different ranges, a decent supply of ammo, and a to hit bonus seems pretty decent. I was ready to call this bad, and my brain really wants to say that, but this seems a lot more usable than most speedy ER PPC T-Comp losers. It just has a pretty good blend of traits, heat management, and damage output. It is a bit low damage, but it is durable and fast so it probably won’t die too quick. I like this, but it isn’t a tier one mech by any means.

Rating: C

Mad Cat III Conclusion

I mean this is just a Stormcrow remix. Most Clan 6/9/0 55 tonners are kinda just Stormcrows. Fortunately, the Stormcrow is pretty good, so if you want a speedy mech for your all Mad Cat force, this is not a bad option. It also has some good flavor for an Inner Sphere force as a small bit of Clan Tech in a force of mostly Inner Sphere 6/9/0 losers. Honestly, that list sounds fun as hell and I am going to run it. The Mad Cat III as the commander of a swarm of Wasps, Dragons, and Jenners is a very Kuritan idea and I needed an excuse to get even more Dragons and fast movers for my Sword of Light. I think the X or 2 are your best options, but the Eve and Standard also have at least some play if they are more your speed.

Savage Wolf

I have to start this section out by admitting something: I am biased as hell about this mech. Unlike with a lot of mechs though (Banshee my beloved), I fucking hate the Savage Wolf. It is both the iconic mech of the IlClan-era Clan Wolf, one of my single least favorite factions in the setting’s history and the iconic mech of Alaric Ward, a character who stars in quite possibly the single worst Battletech book ever written. Also, it looks kinda dumb and has its origins in MWDA. I direly wish that I had a copy of the MWDA miniature for this mech; it is so incredibly possessed looking and has possibly the second worst proportions of any MWDA figure. There is a lot working against the Savage Wolf, so let’s see.

Chassis

Hey the Feral Puppy is an Omni-Mech! Been a sec since we have looked at one of those in this project. At base the Savage Wolf is very nearly just exactly a Mad Cat. It moves 5/8/0, is 75 tons, and is obviously trying to mimic the Mad Cat in a manner more pathetic than the Rakshasa. The Rakshasa is a low-budget cosplay of the Mad Cat, but it’s a bootleg with a ton of heart and some genuine uniqueness. The Savage Wolf is just a Mad Cat in a higher tech hat and it is kind of boring.

Unfortunately for me, the Savage Wolf is a really good kind of boring (except when it isn’t). The three significant changes from the Mad Cat start with the swap from whatever armor to Ferro-Lamellor. Ferro Lam continues to be a crazy powerful upgrade, and this mech just gains 20% extra armor for basically no cost. It also has an armored gyro, which means it takes two crits to a location to damage the gyro. This makes the Uncontrollable Canid very hard to kill with gyro hits from random TACs or rear armor crits.

So the main issue is that this mech has an XXL engine to pay for that extra durability. This is a fucking baffling design decision and actually is giving me a headache, though that might be the Carabao and Industrial Metal. XXL engines take up twice the space in a side torso as a standard XL engine. So the issue, which you may have already seen, is, well, you know what makes Clan XL engines awesome? They only take up 2 crits in each side torso, so you can lose a side torso and still keep fighting or live to retreat and repair. The XXL engine takes away that benefit, putting 4 juicy, extra thick crit slots of engine in each side torso. Also XXL engines generate 2 base heat, and then twice as much heat from movement, so 2 from standing still, 4 from walking, 6 from running and 2 heat per hex when jumping (with a minimum of 6 heat). This is terrible and very bad.

The Savage Wolf wants to be more durable than the Timber Wolf, but doesn’t want to trade off any guns; Kerensky forbid a Clan Mech carry less than 4000 tons of gun. For some reason there is a mandate printed on the walls of every design bureau run by this rotting honor cult that if you try to remove even a single ton of pod space when updating an Omni-Mech you get unmade at the cellular level and fed into the clone tanks as food. So it takes one of the worst, most inefficient and fragile components in the game so that it can be tougher. Like, XL engines aren’t honestly that bad and most of the time I think that the risk of a side torso loss killing you is worth it, because most mechs that lose a side torso might as well already be dead. But the whole point of a Clan XL engine is that you aren’t taking that risk and you get the exact same benefits, so anyone being willing to take on that risk, build extra heat, and ruin their perfectly good engine tech is completely insane. IS XXL engines are at least extremely funny with certain alternate rule sets because, depending on how you play it there is a chance that a side torso loss would lead to a reactor going critical. Clan XXL engines just hurt my soul and I hate it.

Variants

These bootlicking Wolfs 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).

Savage Wolf Prime

Ok this is mostly bad. For 2781 BV you get 2 ER PPCs and 4 streak SRM-6s. Sounds fucking awesome right? Good long range damage, horrifying point blank damage, good accuracy from streaks? So 2 of the streak SRM-6s point backwards and you are chained to that dumbass XXL engine. Like, it is heat neutral firing its ER PPCs, but not if it adds the streaks. The justification I usually put here for the Mad Cat D, which this is blatantly a copy of, is that it can flip its arms with the PPCs and then still have streaks to follow up with them, but it doesn’t have the heat capacity to do that, and it would also be better if the streaks were on the arms as well so that they could just flip with the PPCs and point into the front aspect like a normal gun. 

I hate this mech. The Mad Cat D is a terrible Mad Cat that people make excuses for and this is just the exact same mech with the exact same issues but now a back shot to the side torso has a good chance of one-tapping this thing.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf A

Costing 2413 BV, this is an ATM mech and is automatically better. It carries 2 ER large lasers, 2 ATM-9s, and 4 small pulse lasers. It is a bit short on ATM ammo but it isn’t that bad, and honestly for the price this isn’t completely terrible…. is what I would say. But the Vulture Mk IV D exists, has more ATMs, also has Ferro Lam, and doesn’t have an engine with a death wish. The Savage Wolf A does have better backup weapons, but I genuinely would take the Vulture Mk IV D over this in 90% of games. In games where you are expecting to not have good backup the Savage Wolf A can be better because it is a bit more self reliant, but the one-shot potential of 2 ATM-12s is huge and the close-up slap of the Vulture Mk IV D is much better. Not terrible, but better ATM options exist in the same era from the same manufacturer at a similar price point.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf B

Angry Puppy B costs 2606 BV and has an identity crisis. It carries a HAG 30, a large improved heavy laser, and an ATM-9. It has adequate ammo and too many heat sinks. This is really expensive for a HAG-30 when you could spend 500 more BV and get the Mad Cat MkII 3, which is just a better mech. This thing is a mediocre HAG mech, a mediocre heavy laser mech, and a mediocre ATM mech bolted together. It costs too much, and instead of combining 3 mediocre mechs into a good one it just stays a mediocre mech.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf C

The Charlie is just a Timber Wolf Prime. You pay 2796 BV for almost the exact same guns as a Timbie Prime, but with an extra medium pulse instead of machine guns and you downgrade the LRM-20s to LRM-15s to mount Artemis V. So you have 2 ER large lasers, 2 ER medium lasers, 2 medium pulse lasers, and 2 LRM-15s with Artemis V. Like, this is a fine set of guns if a bit under-sinked, but for 2796 BV you could have something impressive and awesome, not just a Timber Wolf but different. You are more durable sometimes but less durable other times and it is just a wash. It is better than a Timber Wolf Prime, but it isn’t better than most of the other Timber Wolf Prime remixes on the actual Timber Wolf chassis. Don’t take this mech, use a regular Mad Cat or something else.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf PR

So the Public Relations is a different prototype for the Savage Wolf and are just base Mad Cats. Like, this is a chassis that is functionally identical to the base model Mad Cat from the 90s with no differences. The PR is functionally identical to the D except that it has one more heat sink, one less ton of streak SRM ammo, and it moves the ER small laser to the side torso from the center torso. It is about 20 more BV at 2702 BV, but honestly yeah that is a significant upgrade for 20 BV. You no longer build heat while running and shooting the PPCs, which is cool and fun but like, this is a Mad Cat D in a hat. It is still not great and I have no idea why they bothered making an Omni-Mech chassis, even for a Prototype, that was exactly identical to another Omni-Mech chassis. It boggles the mind.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf PR2

The PR2 costs 2666 BV, an appropriate amount considering that the light of (your deity/space squid/secular observation that the sun is a large and unknowable entity in our sky older than history that provides life to all on earth but blinds those who look directly upon it and causes growth to rampage out of control and kill you if you stay in its sight without protection for too long) has never reached it. The PR2 is, again, a completely standard Mad Cat Chassis in a hat with a different name, but the loadout here is profoundly upsetting. It carries 2 ER PPCs, 2 ATM-6s, 2 ATM-3s, and an ER small laser for some fucking reason. You bet your sweet bippy that some of those guns face backwards. The ATM-3s only have a single ton of ammo and face backwards so that it can have a bad ATM weapon facing in a direction that it can never use it. I mean this is a pair of ER PPCs but holy hell you can do better for this price than a mech with backwards firing guns and an identity crisis. Take like, most Vultures or normal Mad Cats instead.

Rating: D, I can’t in good faith give this an F but this is a terrible Clan Heavy.

Savage Wolf Conclusion

Yeah this is a bad one. There are good Ferro Lam mechs out there; lots of them. Ferro Lam is a shockingly powerful piece of kit. The Savage Wolf is, in fact, one of the only Ferro Lam mechs that manages to be outright bad. Use any of the other updated Omni-Mechs or just, a normal Mad Cat. There was nothing wrong with the Mad Cat, and the Savage Wolf is a solution in search of a problem. The Mad Cat was basically flawless and the Savage Wolf had a chance to be the same thing with Ferro Lam and managed to fuck it up. Outstanding move.

Alpha Wolf

So the Alpha Wolf is the one good thing that the IlClan Wolfs have given us. The Alpha Wolf is another assault mech remix of the Mad Cat, weighing 90 tons. It is an Omni-Mech, unlike the Mad Cat MkII, and has a ton of really kickass things going on. It has Stealth Armor, and unlike a lot of Stealth Armor mechs, it is an assault mech and therefore has enough weight to fit heat sinks to deal with the +10 heat from using the system. Stealth Armor is very, very powerful if you use it right, and the Alpha Wolf abuses the hell out of it. It is a 4/6/0 mech with the same armor as a Banshee (my beloved) and access to efficient Clan heat sinks and weapons. This is a murderous base chassis: At medium and long range it is incredibly hard to hit from stealth, it can take a hell of a beating with how thick its armor is, it is decently fast for an assault mech, and it doesn’t have a fucking XXL engine.

Variants

These Ace Combat-looking Mad Cats 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).

Alpha Wolf Prime

The Prime is a weird one. It costs 2966 BV, which is quite a lot, and carries 2 RAC/5s, 2 LRM/15s, and nothing else for guns. That really isn’t a ton, but this is a deceptive mech. It has a ton of ammo and has enough heat sinks to fire the LRM-15s and 4 shots from each RAC with Stealth Active without overheating. Reducing the shot count coming out of your RACs is a bummer but it reduces the jam chance and if one jams you can drop it, fire the other one at the full 6 round rate of fire with the LRMs until it jams, then take one turn off to unjam the guns. This mech also reaches Please God Stop damage with a potential output of 90 damage out to a pretty good range, and Stealth Armor gives the Alpha Wolf prime a disgusting trading pattern at mid range, sandblasting the outside of an enemy mech while being hard to hit in return, only losing 2 LRM-15s when it needs to unjam the RACs. I love this mech; praise Clan Wolf.

Rating: A, one of the best RAC assault mechs in the game if not the best.

Alpha Wolf A

Costing a tier one 3359 BV, the Alpha Wolf A might be worth it even though it has a lot of traits that I normally despise. To start, it carries a Supercharger to send it to a speed of 4/6(8)/0 in short bursts, which is great for generating a little extra TMM when closing in on mechs with its Stealth Armor active. For guns, we have 2 ER PPCs, 4 medium pulse lasers, 2 streak SRM-6s that point fucking forwards, and that is it. The key is that this mech has a hilarious 20 heat sinks and it has a coolant pod. It is heat neutral while firing both ER PPCs from Stealth, and it might be the only mech in the game that can say that. The coolant pod is the real spice here though, because it has a lot of capacity to overheat itself with the streaks and MPLs and so with a coolant pod and a good shot this mech can alpha strike while in stealth and only build 4 heat. This is a phenomenal mech: It does ER PPC things while being hard to trade fire with, it has a go button where it can just delete some offending mech that closes within short range, and it can sprint for short bursts to get into good positions or generate extra TMM while moving between firing positions. One of the best mechs in the game, it stands in the battle line, is unkillable, and does good damage. God I love the Alpha Wolf.

Rating: A, one of the best Clan ER PPC assault mechs in the game if not the best.

Alpha Wolf B

Alpha Beta here costs 2672 BV and is also a genuine tier one assault mech because the Alpha Wolf is such a good base chassis. For guns, we have a gauss rifle, 2 large pulse lasers, 2 SRM-6s with Artemis V because we were good this year, and that is it. It is also more or less heat neutral, has plenty of ammo and is just a competently-designed assault mech. It has long range, stealth helps it during long range firefights, and the guns here are pretty good. I probably like the A or Prime better, but this is still really good if you want a gauss and pulse boy.

Rating: A-, less good but still pretty good.

Alpha Wolf C

The Alpha Wolf C is an ELRM mech. Unlike most of them, that doesn’t completely ruin this one. It just mostly ruins it. This is a riff on the Timber Wolf Prime. For 2535 BV, you get 2 disgusting and pathetic ELRM-10s, 2 ER large lasers, 3 ER medium lasers, and just way too many heat sinks. This manages heat decently and has decent lasers, but it isn’t as good as the other Alpha Wolfs because it is tying a huge amount of tonnage and BV up in those ELRMs. ELRMs are one of the single worst weapons in the game. They have a 10 hex minimum range and a short range of 12 hexes, so you only have a 2 hex window at a pretty extreme range where they are genuinely good. ELRMs do have a niche as weapons that can semi-consistently hit things out to 22 hexes, but it is going to be a somewhat rare occurrence to get a decent shot at more than 15 hexes against a non-cooperating opponent.

In my experience, most fighting in Battletech happens within 10-15 hexes with the average range between 5 and 9, but even in longer ranged metas you really just don’t get great use out of ELRMs because the enemy is going to close in to their long range weapon range and your mega uber range will be wasted. If you are keeping an assault mech in the backline to take advantage of ELRMs, don’t make it this one! With stealth armor that is fantastic in a battle line situation and the same armor as a Banshee, it is a total waste of a mech to have the Alpha Wolf hang back to plink away with 20 damage at 20 something hexes.

Rating: D+, carried purely because the lasers are decent. Would rather have literally any other Alpha Wolf.

Alpha Wolf Conclusion

The Alpha Wolf is a fantastic core chassis with competent design and mostly good variants. It looks cool as hell, is one of the vanishingly few good stealth armor mechs, and there isn’t a ton else to say. It is a good assault mech and you should use it.

Mad Cat Conclusion

So. The Mad Cat family. There is a lot of good, some bad, and some stupid. Overall I think this is probably the strongest mech family in the game — stronger than the Warhammer, Vulture, or Marauder. You are completely spoiled for choice, and you could build a really well-rounded force out of nothing but Mad Cats and bootleg Mad Cats. I am sure I missed a Mad Cat or two (let me know in the comments) and I am going to not write about Clan mechs for a bit. My whole scale of value and quality is completely shot now.

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