Characters / Battletech Inner Sphere Light And Medium Mechs

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Inner Sphere | Clans | Periphery | NGOs and Others | BattleMechs: Inner Sphere Light and Medium | Inner Sphere Heavy and Assault | Clan | Periphery

Tropes associated with specific BattleMechs used by the factions of the Inner Sphere in the BattleTech Universe.

Light Mechs

Commando COM-2D

The original light 'Mech. Or "Lyran Battle Armor," if you're feeling cheeky.

Production Year: 2486
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 25 tons

Originally created in 2463 for the Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces, the Commando was a radical departure from previous 'Mech designs — light, fast, and built for reconnaissance rather than direct battle. With the development of new designs that filled the reconnaissance role better (such as the jump-capable Wasp and Stinger), the Commando was retooled as a dedicated hunter-killer 'Mech, and in that capacity it would serve the Lyrans with distinction for the next six hundred years.

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• Beam Spam: In a distinct changeup from its normal missile-slinging duties, an apocryphal variant known as the "Blazing Inferno Commando" removes its SRM packs to stick on a total of ten lasers - four medium, six small. That said, it does not include extra heat sinks. It is described as "easily capable of crushing a Jenner" and "melting out from under its pilots in seconds."
• Equipment Upgrade: Like many 'Mechs in prominent service during the Succession Wars, the Commando got a post-Helm Memory Core upgrade that was essentially "the same 'Mech with better tech." In this case, the COM-5S swapped the SRM-4 for a Streak SRM-2, added Artemis IV fire control to the SRM-6, and gained an Endo Steel chassis, Ferro-Fibrous armor, and CASE.
• Fashionable Asymmetry: Due to a misinterpretation of the original Commando lineart, the 'Mech is commonly depicted with a faceplate that is asymmetrical in some fashion. The latest version of the art gives it a cluster of sensors over one "eye" to help sell the spec-ops "commando" look (along with head armor stylized to resemble a tactical beanie).
• Glass Cannon: The standard Commando carries an SRM-4, an SRM-6, and a Medium Laser, giving it an Alpha Strike damage potential higher than many 'Mechs over twice its mass. It also carries only four tons of armor, meaning if it starts taking hits it will quickly fall apart.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: A combination of powerful short-ranged weaponry, high speed, and light armor make this the most effective way to use a Commando.
• Macross Missile Massacre: A salvo of ten short-range missiles is nothing to sneeze at from any 'Mech, to say nothing of one as tiny as the Commando.
• National Weapon: The Lyrans jealously guarded the Commando through the time of Star League and the Succession Wars, and it was only with the formation of the Federated Commonwealth that the 'Mech really started to filter out to other parts of the Inner Sphere and Periphery. The SLDF themselves only gained access to it when some Lyran MechWarriors joined them on the Exodus and brought their rides along.
• The Workhorse: The original Commando was a second-generation BattleMech developed not long after the Mackie, but variants on the design continued to serve as the Lyran Commonwealth's go-to light 'Mech well into the Jihad.

Firestarter FS9-H

Its gimmick is that it really likes fire.

Production Year: 2550
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

A timeless classic of the Inner Sphere, the Firestarter arose in the early days of 'mech warfare as a skirmisher and anti-infantry weapons platform. Equipped with a mix of anti-infantry and general purpose weaponry — most notably a quartet of flamers — it quickly built a reputation on its almost unrivaled ability to make short work of entrenched infantry and armoured vehicles, remaining relevant in the battlefield for several centuries after its introduction.

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• Anti-Infantry: The original intended purpose. Flamers can make short work of any entrenchment, be it by burning down a fortified building, starting a forest fire, or just forcing an infantry force to vacate cover by setting them all on fire.
  Tex: "Because infantry tends not to work as well when it's on fire."
• Arm Cannon: Has a good chunk of its armaments built into its arms.
• Chest Blaster: Has a pair of machine guns and flamers built into its chest.
• Crippling Overspecialization: It wasn't commonly assigned at the lance level, as it being so specialized meant that it was very vulnerable to medium or heavy 'Mechs.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a Firestarter, it starts fires.
• Fragile Speedster: As befits an early Inner Sphere design, it's not particularly well armored, but it is fast enough to steer clear from most 'mechs bigger than it.
• Kill It with Fire: The 'mech's main purpose.
• Superior Successor: Has one in the Firestarter II, a medium OmniMech designed after the Clan Invasion that sports Large Lasers and 3 tons of extra armor without compromising its mobility.
• Try and Follow: A common tactic - the Firestarter could typically withdraw by setting a whole bunch of things (buildings, forests, people) on fire to hamper pursuit and running or jump-jetting away.
• The Workhorse: While not particularly cheap, the Firestarter has very good cost effectiveness, and thus, became a fixture of any Great House military force worth its salt.

Hollander BZK-F3

Big Iron on his Hip...

Production year: 3054
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

Born from the need for a light 'mech that could stand up to Clan designs, the Hollander aimed to use recently rediscovered lostech and the reverse engineering of Clan technology to create a reasonably-mobile platform for a Gauss Rifle to match the heavier firepower Clanner light armour brought in. The final product had to make serious cutbacks, particularly by removing the secondary weapons and lowering the expectations of its mobility. It was still capable of carrying a Gauss Rifle at a fraction of the cost of other options, which makes it a serious danger by Inner Sphere standards.

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• Awesome, yet Impractical: The Hollander's extreme overspecialization means that it can punch far above its weight, but the lack of secondary weapons and below-average mobility for a 'mech its size mean it will be easily outclassed in a close-range fight. The contract was won partly on this - the original prototype design was intended to be more heavily armored, faster, and have greater ammo reserves and secondary weapons. The Hollander was the only prospective design that used a Gauss Rifle instead of a PPC or LRMs for long-range punch and sidestepped the overheating or ammunition explosion issues that came with those weapons.
• BFG: The 'mech itself weighs in at 35 tons. The Gauss Rifle occupies 15 of them.
• Chest Blaster: It carries exactly one oversized gun, almost comically protruding from its chest.
• Crippling Overspecialization: The Gauss Rifle it carries can easily blast light and medium 'mechs while staying out of range of most return fire. This comes at the cost of subpar mobility and armor, and a complete lack of secondary weapons.
• Glass Cannon: It can one-shot a light 'Mech at extreme range, but carries only four tons of ferro-fibrous armor, barely more than half that can fit on a 35-ton chassis. This is made worse by the Hollander not carrying CASE, which means a critical hit on the Gauss Rifle itself will cause it to explode.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Uses them by necessity.
• Long-Range Fighter: An exceptionally dangerous one, and by necessity, between the Arbitrary Weapon Range on the Gauss Rifle and the lack of armor.
• Sketchy Successor: While the BZK-F5 Hollander II is considered a Superior Successor to the baseline Hollander for adding some backup weaponry to the chassis, the BZK-F7 variant instead uses the extra tonnage to upgrade the Gauss Rifle to a Heavy Gauss Rifle. While this increases the 'Mech's firepower to even more ridiculous levels, it also: 1) re-introduces all the problems from the original Hollander that the Hollander II fixed; 2) significantly reduces the 'Mech's effective combat range, removing its ability to snipe from a safe distance; and 3) introduces the risk of the recoil knocking the 'Mech over if it fires its gun at anything other than a dead stop, neutering its ability to use Hit-and-Run Tactics. (In fact, it's possible for a particularly unlucky MechWarrior to actually blow up their own 'Mech by trying to fire the Heavy Gauss Rifle on the move and falling over onto the gun.) In other words, it takes all the Crippling Overspecialization of the original Hollander and places extra emphasis on the crippling.
• Superior Successor: The Hollander II and Hollander III were both meant to address the shortcomings of the original model by going up a weight class, beefing up its armor and increasing its endurance with extra ammunition or swapping the weapon for a more general purpose one.
  • The G1 variant was meant to be used as an armoured vehicle hunter by swapping the Gauss Rifle for an LB-10X and a pair of medium lasers, making it incredibly dangerous at close quarters.

Javelin JVN-10N

Floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee

Production Year: 2751
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 30 tons

Weighing in at 30 tons, the Javelin is almost perfect in its simplicity. Entering production not long after the Amaris Civil War, it was intended to be a scout 'mech with enough armour, speed and manouverability to make contact with the enemy, relay their positions and escape alive, along with enough armaments to discourage any pursuit. It has since become the bread and butter of most Federated Suns light lances, serving competently in any role that requires mobility and hard hitting firepower. Be it mobile fire support, raiding, scouting or ambushing, the Javelin is almost always a good choice.

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• Beam Spam: The 10F "Fire Javelin" model replaces its main weapons with 4 medium lasers, while the 11A model takes it up a notch. With double heatsinks being able to negate more heat, it packs a whopping 7 medium lasers, which is a bit overkill even by medium 'mech standards.
• Chest Blaster: Pretty much all variants mount their weapons, whether lasers or missiles, exclusively in their upper torso. Amusingly, the laser mounts on the breast of the Fire Javelin are usually depicted as being laid out in a V-shape.
• Glass Cannon: The standard model lugs around a pair of SRM-6 missile launchers, meaning it can do some serious damage up close, but its 4 tons of armour is very underwhelming in any prolonged engagement.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Most Javelin models have poor heat management and armour, meaning that hitting hard then fading away before the heat becomes too much to handle is a preferred tactic among its pilots.
• The Workhorse: The standard 'mech for any Federated Suns light lance, mostly due to its simplicity and vast variety of models.

Jenner JR7-D

35 tons of hot murder on a pair of fast legs, what's not to like?

Production Year: 2784
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

The Jenner is, among light 'mechs, a terror to behold, boasting a top speed of almost 120 KPH, 150 meters jump capacity and a complement of weaponry seen normally in 'mechs 20 tons heavier. The pride and joy of the Draconis Combine, it is a fearsome light battlemech used primarily in pack tactics and heavier 'mech hunting.

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• Achilles' Heel: Heat, so much so that firing its alpha strike twice can damage it from the heat buildup.
• Arm Cannon: Like the Locust, the design arm's are housings for weaponry. Under the Quirks rules, has the "No/Minimal Arms" Quirk.
• Beam Spam: Its main weapon is 4 medium lasers housed in its arms, which it will normally fire in unison along with the SRM-4 in its torso.
• Close-Range Combatant: Almost all its variants carry weapons intended for knife-fight range, the default Jenner being practically harmless to anything more than six hexes away at the end of movement.
• Fragile Speedster: A mixture of this and Glass Cannon. The Jenner runs fast as all hell and has an impressive 28 Alpha Strike damage (higher than many Inner Sphere 'mechs almost twice its size), but only 4 tons of armour means that one or two well placed shots will bring it down.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: The Jenner is designed for this tactic, being fast, jump-capable and very damaging up close but lacking the armour and heat management to stay in prolonged combat.
• Jump Jet Pack: Carries five of them by default, and the engine is big enough to support up to seven.
• National Weapon: The Draconis Combine had almost sole ownership of the design, and it was proud of it. It was a significant trump card in their war with the Federated Suns.
• No Export for You: Subverted. While the Combine was the only producer (and for a great deal of time, the only user) of the Jenner, the Clans somehow fielded a IIC version despite the fact that their Exodus took place in 2784, the same year the Jenner was introduced. Explanations for this vary from the SLDF managing to get their hands on a few models of the first production run (supported by one appearing during the Wolverine Annhilation) to the Wolf's Dragoons bringing home copies of the design during one of their supply runs.
• The Workhorse: The Combine loved the design, and so many were produced that even after the production lines were destroyed during the Succession Wars, every DCMS battalion had at least one in their roster three hundred years of war later.
• Those Two Guys: It is commonly paired up with the similar-weight Panther, with the latter 'mech providing long-range covering fire and opening up holes in the enemy armour for the Jenner to exploit.
• Zerg Rush: One of the best tactics of the Jenner is forming a pack of them, arming some with Inferno Rounds, ambushing a heavy 'mech, getting close to it and firing an Alpha Strike in unison. The result is that either the heavier 'mech will be disabled or badly mangled and unable to respond due to the heat buildup.

Locust LCT-1V

A medium laser and a pair of legs. Everything else comes extra.

^{Click here to see the Unseen design}

Production Year: 2499
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 20 tons

The Locust was introduced in 2499, and from that year onward has been one of the most common 'Mechs to ever be made due to its miniscule size and relatively light requirements from production. It is primarily used as a reconaissance/quick-strike 'Mech, because making it do anything else would be suicide.

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• Arm Cannon: Its "arms" are little more than housings for its machine guns. Under the Quirks rules, has the "No/Minimal Arms" Quirk.
• Beam Spam: The LCT-1E variant removes the machine guns for additional medium lasers.
• Boring, but Practical: It's essentially a medium laser and two machine guns on legs (a pair of very fast legs), and extremely easy to build and maintain. In-universe, there were more Locusts active in the Inner Sphere at the end of the Third Succession War than all the assault 'mechs combined. When Quirks are allowed the Locust has the "Ubiquitous" Quirk, making it extremely easy to repair during a campaign.
• Chicken Walker: It has reverse-joint legs, uncommon amongst battlemechs.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The SLDF Royal version packed every weight-saving technology available into the design and added a dizzying array of pulse lasers, giving it a surprising amount of close-range punch without sacrificing speed.
• Fragile Speedster: The fragilest, speediest 'mech of them all.
• The Goomba: In BattleTech (2018). For the first several hours of gameplay, almost half of all enemy mech contacts will be Locusts.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: One of the Unseen, the Locust's original model is based on the Ostall from Crusher Joe. A Reseen model was eventually introduced, changing the cockpit enough to be legally distinct.
• The Workhorse: One of the oldest 'mech designs in use, the Locust continued to be produced from the 25th century to well into the Dark Age.

Panther PNT-9R

"Draw both sword and companion sword and assume a wide-stretched left and right attitude. The spirit is to chase the enemies around from side to side, even though they come from all four directions".

Production Year: 2759
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

The national 'mech of the Draconis Combine, the Panther began its lifespan as a light sniper support 'mech built in the final century of Star League. Commonly deployed in tandem with the Jenner, the Panther combines a powerful offensive punch and long range from its PPC with an ease of mass manufacture and solid armour for its weight class.

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• Arm Cannon: As with many Inner Sphere battlemechs, the Panther wields its main weapon in its right arm, in this case its PPC.
• Boring, but Practical: It's a PPC with Jump Jets and enough armour to survive surprising amounts of support fire from anything long-ranged enough to fire back, with enough heat sinks to keep firing for a good while. It's also a steal at 2.5 million C-bills.
• Distinction Without a Difference: The Combine dislikes using medium 'mechs, considering them a redundant middle point between the fast first wave of light 'mechs and the heavier main battle punch delivered by heavy and assault 'mechs. The Panther, similar to the Dragon, is a mech not in the medium class but with the movement speed and equivalent weaponry to one.
• Equipment Upgrade: The Panther began obtaining upgraded versions mounting ERPPC and Double Heat Sinks around the time of the Clan Invasion, with the 10K mostly replacing the 9R over time.
• Flawed Prototype: The original production run of the Panther, the PNT-8Z, had a faulty casing for its Large Laser that caused overheating. Switching to a PPC fixed this problem, and the 9R has been the dominant production variant of the Panther ever since.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Possesses Jump Jets to engage in this tactic, as well as obtaining higher ground and to keep up with the Jenner.
• Jump Jet Pack: Mounts four of them, giving it equivalent mobility to an Enforcer. It also has the "Nimble Jumper" quirk, allowing it to deviate jump paths slightly and go around obstacles larger 'mechs cannot avoid.
• Lightning Gun: The Panther's main offense and its bread and butter, and probably also the reason the Combine loves it so much.
• Mighty Glacier: A light 'mech example. At four hexes of movement the Panther is equivalent to a heavy 'mech in mobility, but the PPC gives it a pretty decent offensive punch and it carries almost maximum armour for its weight.
• National Weapon: The most beloved 'mech of the Succession Wars-era Draconis Combine, as the sole mass manufacturer. Even the Dragon and Jenner are not as well liked as the Panther (probably because they lack PPCs).
• Rage Helm: The armor surrounding its cab is stylized to look like the face of a snarling jungle cat with its fangs bared, even in its MWO incarnation, which usually downplays fanciful details like that.
• Ranged Emergency Weapon: Carries a chest-mounted SRM-4 for close-up defence. As it almost completely lacks overlap with the PPC, the 'mech rarely engages in Alpha Strike tactics.
• Those Two Guys: The Panther is commonly paired up with the Jenner in a manner similar to the longsword/katana and companion sword of Edo-era Samurai, with the Panther providing the long-distance firepower as the Jenner closes in for the Alpha Strike. The Federated Commonwealth created the Wolfhound specifically to counter this combo, having fallen afoul of it one too many times.
• Urban Warfare: An adept Urban Warfare combatant, the Panther can engage both in long-distance bombardment from rooftops or engage in ambush tactics. The Lyran Commonwealth nicknamed the 'mech "Alley Cat" for its tendency to mug bigger 'mechs during urban engagements.

Raven RVN-3L

Hoping to keep your 'Mechs hidden from the enemy? Quoth the Raven "Nevermore."

Production Year: 3048
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

In the closing years of the Third Succession War, the Capellan Confederation began work on one of the first truly original BattleMech designs in centuries: a dedicated electronic warfare unit that would serve as a force multiplier for the perpetually-beleaguered Capellan military. While the initial prototype was neither as game-changing nor as exclusive as the Capellans would have liked, advances in technology would ultimately allow the Raven to blossom into one of the Inner Sphere's premier reconnaissance and support 'Mechs.

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• Animal Mecha: With its distinctly pointed Cephalothorax, minimal arms, and Chicken Walker legs, the Raven definitely looks like a giant robot bird, albeit something more like a long-legged kiwi than anything resembling an actual raven.
• Awesome, but Impractical: The electronics warfare equipment that went into the prototype RVN-1X Raven was an attempt to recreate the Beagle Active Probe and Guardian ECM Suite of the Star League era using Succession Wars-level technology. Technically the EW equipment achieved this goal, but it was also heavy, bulky, and short-ranged, and the RVN-1X's performance fell well short of the designers' expectations. It was only after the rediscovery of the Helm Memory Core and the proliferation of Star League-era technology that the Raven was able to come into its own as a practical and effective electronic warfare 'Mech.
• Cephalothorax: The Raven's beak-like cockpit merges fairly seamlessly into its torso, giving the 'Mech the appearance of a giant metal bird skull on legs.
• Death from Above: Included in the Raven's suite of battlefield support systems is Target Acquisition Gear, which allows it to effectively spot for indirect fire by LRMs and, more importantly, artillery.
• Enemy-Detecting Radar: The Raven carries a Beagle Active Probe that's capable of detecting and identifying enemy units, even if they're camouflaged or shut down. Inverted in that the Raven also carries a Guardian ECM Suite, which is specifically designed to counter scanners like the Beagle and deny this sort of information to the enemy.
• Flawed Prototype: The original RVN-1X Raven was built before the Helm Memory Core LosTech was rediscovered, and as a result was more lightly armored, slower, and generally less capable than the 3L model. This also goes for the ersatz EW Equipment that was mounted on the original model - larger, heavier, and less capable than the later equipment.
• Fragile Speedster: The 1X had barely four tons of armor, making it extremely fragile for its speed. The 3L upgraded to ferro-fibrous armor and had more of it, but it's still lightly-armored.
• Homing Projectile: The Raven's left arm incorporates a launcher for Narc Missile Beacons that, when attached to a target, significantly improve the homing ability of SRMs and LRMs. In game terms, this increases the number of missiles that will hit the target out of any given salvo.
• Ironic Name: Most variants of the Raven lack jump jets, making it a BattleMech named after a flying bird that is largely incapable of flight.
• Meaningful Name: Depending on which bit of folklore you read, ravens are associated with wisdom, protection, trickery, misfortune, and death. All appropriate for a 'Mech that provides improved battlefield awareness for its allies, denies that information to its enemies, and marks foes for destruction through highly-accurate barrages of missile and artillery fire.
• National Weapon: The Capellan Confederation were the ones who originally built the Raven and are responsible for most of its variants, though other power blocs in the Inner Sphere were able to acquire the 'Mech through trade, capture, or salvage, and some even developed Raven variants of their own.
• Non-Action Guy: Downplayed. The Raven is certainly capable of fighting, and in fact has a fairly decent weapons loadout for a 'Mech of its size and tech level, but that is not its intended purpose. During the early days of its use, the Capellans considered any engagement where a Raven was forced into direct combat to be a failure.
• Sensor Character: Is designed to detect enemies at long range so that other pilots can plan attacks around them.
• Sixth Ranger: When it was first deployed, the Raven was typically attached to other 'Mech lances as an auxiliary unit, rather than be incorporated into the lance proper or fielded in lances of its own.
• The Sneaky Guy: The RVN-4L variant of the Raven and its derivatives are protected by Stealth Armor, allowing the 'Mech to turn on what is effectively an Invisibility Cloak in exchange for neutered electronic warfare capabilities and a significant amount of heat buildup.
• Support Party Member: The Raven's primary purpose is not to engage enemy forces directly, but rather to provide friendly forces with improved targeting data and ECM coverage via a comprehensive suite of electronic warfare systems.

Spider SDR-5V

Does whatever a spider can. Including getting squished.

Production Year: 2650
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 30 tons

Named for the distinctive spiderweb pattern formed by its chest armor, the Spider was built for the Star League Defense Force as a reconnaissance and light attack 'Mech — a role it performed admirably, thanks to its high speed, outstanding jump capability, and ammunition-independent weapon loadout. Never produced in large numbers before the fall of Star League, the Spider nearly went extinct through attrition during the Succession Wars, but the recovery of its schematics by the Free Worlds League allowed the 'Mech to start propagating through the Inner Sphere once more.

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• Armored Coffins: Due to its small size and quirks in its design, the standard Spider lacks an automatic ejection system — any MechWarrior needing to leave the 'Mech must disconnect from its systems, pop the hatch, and exit manually. As you might expect, this does little to help with the survival rate for Spider pilots.
• Chest Blaster: The Spider's only weapons, a pair of Medium Lasers, are mounted in its center torso next to the reactor. Technically this makes the Spider a "ZombieMech," albeit a particularly fragile one.
• Equipment Upgrade: The 3051 SDR-7M variant is the usual Helm Memory Core upgrade, with an Endo Steel chassis, Ferro Fibrous armor, and the standard model's lasers updated to pulse variants. The SDR-7K variant from 3067, however, incorporates a Light Fusion Engine on top of that — which not only let the designers add on a couple more tons of armor, but also install an actual ejection system for the first time ever.
• Fragile Speedster: Very fast, with a top ground speed of 129.6 km/h. Very fragile, with only 3.5 tons of armor to its name. For comparison, the archetypal Fragile Speedster 'Mech, the Locust, has the same ground speed and carries half a ton more armor on a chassis ten tons lighter!
• Jump Jet Pack: The Spider mounts an impressive eight jump jets in its torso, allowing it to clear 240 meters in a single bound. Unlike most 'Mechs, the Spider can make minute adjustments to its thrust vectors mid-jump, allowing it to jink in midair and making it even harder to hit during a jump than usual.
• Lost Technology: After the destruction of the original Spider factory during the Amaris Civil War, the number of Spiders in the Inner Sphere steadily began to dwindle, ultimately reaching a point where combat operations were being fought over spare Spider parts and the Wolf's Dragoons were noteworthy for being able to field an entire lance (i.e. just four) of the things. This state of affairs ended when the Free Worlds League secured the 'Mech's schematics and contracted Nimakachi Fusion Products Limited to build them, allowing the design to proliferate once more (particularly in FWL and Draconis Combine space).
• Mundane Utility: The Spider's advanced computer systems can make rapid adjustments to its jump trajectory mid-flight, transmit communication and sensor data back to HQ... and provide various forms of entertainment so that the MechWarrior doesn't die of boredom during long recon deployments.
• Shout-Out: It's hard to look at the Spider, with the distinctive pattern in its chest armor, and not see a giant robot Spider-Man. This is especially true for the version pictured in the tokens of the Fourth Edition boxed set◊ (which looks more like a costumed superhero than a robot), and especially when you consider that there's an upgraded version of the Spider called the Venom.

Stinger STG-3R

This is not the VF-1A you are looking for.

^{Click here to see the Reseen version}

^{Click here to see the original Unseen version}

Production Year: 2479
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 20 tons

Brought into service in the 25th century as a competitor to the Wasp, the Stinger was heavily produced prior to the Succession Wars, and has largely been able to survive the rising size of 'Mechs by being hard to hit and faster than everything else at the time, and for being able to do its job admirably.

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• Anti-Infantry: The Stinger was designed as an anti-infantry 'mech, featuring Jump Jets and twin Machine Guns to ambush infantry squads and massacre them at point-blank range, and was the premieer anti-infantry 'mech until the introduction of the Firestarter.
• Armored Coffins: A variation - due to the Stinger's small size, the cockpit is terribly cramped and unpleasant for any pilot larger than a teenager. This means that it's almost impossible for tall/weighty pilots to fit in the command chair, and almost everyone needs the assistance of a tech to get out of the cockpit afterwards. This leads to diminished effectiveness and the heightened risk of injury or death. In-game, this is represented by the "Cramped Cockpit" quirk and all the negatives that come with it (fortunately, "Difficult Ejection" is a separate quirk that does not affect the Stinger).
• Chest Blaster: The Jihad-era 3P variant and its derivatives are built around a Light PPC, mounted in the Right Torso. The weapon takes up most of the Mech's chest cavity. Rumors of being copied from the extremely similar Clan Pack Hunter design are a matter of personal judgement.
• Fragile Speedster: It has about average speed for a light 'Mech, but with only three tons of armor a few good shots can cause serious trouble.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: Based on the VF-1A Valkyrie from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Like the Wasp (based on a similar Valkyrie model), this made it one of the Unseen, and it took several revisions to produce a modern iteration that would be beyond litigation.
• Jump Jet Pack: The second scout 'mech to use Jump Jets, coming right behind the Wasp and becoming its main competitor. Of course, this lead to...
• Serial Numbers Filed Off: The Stinger was considered an In-Universe example of this, resembling the Wasp so much that it led to a long lawsuit between the 'mechs' respective manufacturers.
  • Which becomes either Hilarious in Hindsight or Harsher in Hindsight as the Stinger was one of the bones of contention in the Harmony Gold vs. FASA lawsuit...
• Transforming Mecha: Also like the Wasp, the Stinger had an LAM variant, just like VF-1A Valkyrie it was based on.
• The Workhorse: Alongside the Locust and Wasp, one of the earliest Battlemechs still in production and the second-most produced 'mech of all time; over 200,000 Stingers were produced between its introduction and the end of Star League. For comparison, by the first edition of Battletech (3025) there were around 60,000 mechs in the Inner Sphere in total (around a fifth of these were Locusts, Stingers or Wasps).

UrbanMech UM-R60

Behold, the most beloved 'Mech in all of Battletech

^{Click here to see the old design}

Production Year: 2675
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 30 tons

The UrbanMech, or "Urbie", as it's well known, is... Unique. Designed purely as an urban defense unit on a dirt-cheap chassis, it's one of the more heavily-armored Light-class 'Mechs in the universe while also being much, much slower, receiving the dubious honor of being one of the slowest 'Mechs in existence^note It lumbers forward at a measly 34 km/h, or 20 mph. While most pilots agree it's worth about two minutes or so of actual combat, in the right hands, it can be quite deadly.

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• Abnormal Limb Rotation Range: Under the Quirks rules, the UrbanMech has "Extended Torso Twist," letting it twist its torso one hexside farther than other 'Mechs, granting it an improved field of fire. In MechWarrior Online, this is translated into a full 360 degree torso rotation range.
• Affectionate Nickname: Known as the "Urbie" both In-Universe and out of it.
• Awesome, but Impractical\Boring, but Practical\Crippling Overspecialization: It is testament at just how odd the UrbanMech is in that it can simultaneously be in all 3 categories at once;
  • On the Overspecialization front the UrbanMech is, as its name suggests, optimized for city-fighting and its slow speed and short range cripples it outside that environment...
  • Within that environment however, the UrbanMech is an (admittedly little) terror where its small size, movement related quirks, tough armor (for its weight class) and short-ranged-but-high-powered weapons make it a superb ambusher able to punch firmly above its price tag...
  • Which leads into the Practical side of things as the UrbanMech is one of the cheapest mechs available with a significant number of variants available for whatever specialized battlefield role a commander may require; be it coring Assault mechs or deploying tactical nuclear artillery - as long as that role takes place within a city.
• BFG: The stock UrbanMech's AC/10 weighs 12 tonnes not including ammo, near half the 'Mech's weight and comically oversized for a light 'Mech. Taken to extremes with the Capellan UM-R60L, which totes an AC/20 in exchange for dropping two tons of armor to accomodate it. In fact, pretty much every configuration of the Urbie is made to carry one in one form or another:
  • The Kuritan UM-R68 variant does away with the autocannon entirely, replacing it with an MRM/30 and 2 tons of ammunition, tripling the damage potential of the stock Urbie and allowing it to fight for longer, at the cost of being significantly less accurate and less effective at range.
  • The UM-R80 carries a snub nosed PPC, allowing it to blast away at close range targets without worrying about ammo consumption.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's a 'Mech. For urban fighting. UrbanMech.
• Difficult, but Awesome: Sure, it looks unimpressive and kinda funny, but in the hands of skilled pilots and fighting in their element, a pack of these are downright terrifying. Just ask the Ghost Bears.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: Toyed with. The Urbie isn't running anywhere fast, but it's got an autocannon typically mounted on much larger Mechs and was designed specifically to fight in an urban environment, popping in and out of cover by hiding in side streets or over buildings with its jump jets. In the right hands, it's actually quite good at its designated role. And absolutely nothing else.
• Inventional Wisdom: Carries an extra heat sink above the 10 included in the engine, despite having a maximum heat output of 6 from Alpha Striking while firing both its jump jets. Presumably adding a medium laser or some additional ammo or armour with that ton instead would be unsporting.
• Jump Jet Pack: The only 'mech to mount 2 jump jets by default. Why 2? Because its engine is so small it can't mount any more. 60 metres still gives the "Urbie" the reach to jump onto or over the average building, which is handy if you ever were to bring one to an urban environment. It also gives the Urbie the ability to air-pivot to the desired facing on landing, negating the cumbersome ground turning speed.
• Lethal Joke Character:
  • UrbanMechs generally aren't taken very seriously, but for their price point they can make for surprisingly effective cannon fodder in the environment it's designed for. It's also one of two 'mechs that can gun its engines to full on asphalt and never have to worry about a seatbelt check.
  • Some of the UrbanMech's variants are... Somewhat better optimized than the base model and can almost be considered dangerous under the right conditions. The UM-R90 SuburbanMech variant, for example, trades the BFG for a (much lighter but equally damaging) PPC and a pair of Medium Lasers, making it essentially a cheaper Panther.^note The R90 is not, strictly speaking, a "proper" variant, being a fanmade design that appeared in the Battletechnology magazine before being included in HBS BattleTech.
  • The UM-AIV is an UrbanMech variant armed with an Arrow IV artillery missile launcher. Canonically, the Word of Blake employed at least one UM-AIV armed with nuclear warheads.
  • Any MechWarrior who can effectively pilot this extremely unorthodox machine is not to be underestimated.
  • In the Crescent Hawks Inception video game, two Kurita UrbanMechs are a Hopeless Boss Fight early in the game. Your Chameleon simply can't stand up to the pounding of their AC/10s, nor do enough damage to get through their armor before they get through yours. You're pretty much expected to lose the 'Mech and escape on foot, though you can blast a hole in the wall of the training ground and run for it. But even that's no guarantee of escaping with the Chameleon. . . Urbies may be slow, but those AC/10s have solid range.
  • This trope is even more apparent in MechWarrior Online, where, due to being heavily customizable, one can solve most shortcomings the Urbie has by greatly improving its movement speed and upgrading its arsenal. The end product is, potentially, a relatively durable light 'Mech that moves about as fast as one would expect from a light 'Mech, but that can dish out enough punishment to give assault 'Mechs pause, while retaining its small size and survivability, meaning a souped out Urbie is an absolute pain in the ass to take out if the pilot knows what they're doing. The downside, of course, is that you'll be spending far more in the upgrades than you'll be spending in purchasing the actual 'Mech^note  namely larger engines, ferro-fibrous armour, endo-steel structure, conversion to double heatsinks and your pick on whatever pricey killing tools to mount on it, which will cost you roughly twice what the mech does, depending on your loadout of choice. And, as established elsewhere, if the UrbanMech has a design philosophy, it's "be very very cheap," partially explaining why such radical upgrades aren't made to canon Urbies.
• Master of None: It's not quick. It's not well-armoured. It isn't even particularly dangerous offensively. The "Urbie" is, however, very, very, very cheap, and its sole weapon of any consequence does just enough damage to be a problem to the enemy.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Draconis Combine created the UM-R68 shortly after the Clan Invasion, which sports an MRM-30 and was employed against Clan Ghost Bear during the Combine-Ghost Bear War. The Ghost Bears quickly grew to hate them.
• Mighty Glacier: Downplayed and exaggerated (because if that's at all possible, of course the Urbie would do it). The UrbanMech is mighty.... For a light 'Mech. It's also slow... for an assault 'Mech.^note So it's mighty only by the standards of a class of 'Mech not known for being mighty, and slow by the standards of a class of 'Mech reknowned for being slow!
• Mini-Me: It's a downsized version of the older Hunchback, carrying a similarly oversized autocannon as a main gun backed up by ammo-independent lasers as backups, having an undersized engine and being optimised for Urban Warfare and defense.
• More Dakka: The Federated Suns stuck a Rotary AC/5 on their UM-R70 Urbie model, because of course they did.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Under the Quirks rules, the UrbanMech has "Narrow/Low Profile," making it harder to hit at range than other 'Mechs. Even just in general, it has pretty impressive firepower and armor for a 30-ton 'Mech, albeit at the cost of being dreadfully slow.
• Ranged Emergency Weapon: The UrbanMech sports a Small Laser, for those all-too-common scenarios where its autocannon runs out of ammunition. This fearsome loadout allows it to lightly singe any enemy foolish enough to allow an UrbanMech to somehow close to point blank range. Some later versions add an additional small pulse laser, which at least can be used to give unarmored infantry a deadly light show (dealing the same damage to infantry as a machine gun), which would be beneficial in an urban environment where infantry sappers could be anywhere.
• Red Shirt: The UrbanMechs role in any Battletech-related narrative it is included in is generally to show up and immediately get slaughtered.
• Series Mascot: An entirely fan-made example. The Urbie is on exactly none of the Battletech manuals and no famous MechWarriors in the 'verse would be caught dead in one, but it's one of the most beloved and recognizable 'mechs by the fandom anyway. It even has its own official Plushie, thanks to being a Stretch Goal of the 2019 Clan Invasion box Kickstarter. It was also the focus of the third episode of Tex Talks BattleTech, because it was the one the fans requested the most. Tex seemed rather off-put by this.
  Tex Talks Battletech: In the world and setting of BattleTech, there are many glorious and truly mighty machines of war! And then, well, there's. . . the . . . UrbanMech. But, well, it's what you wanted, so I guess we're going with that!
• Situational Sword: The UrbanMech was designed with one particular battlefield in mind. We leave it to eagle-eyed readers to determine which one.
• Superweapon Surprise: Not quite a superweapon but the DCMS unleashing the missile centric UM-R68 onto the invading Clan Ghost Bear had more or less the same effect, as a 'mech that was once considered a nuisance at best, would now show up in packs and tear apart their vastly more expensive heavy 'mechs with a concentrated barrage of missiles. The actual superweapon is the UM-AIV which at a distance looks like a humble missile carrying variant, and it is. It just so happens that this variant is equipped with Arrow IV artillery missiles and the option to pack nuclear warheads. The Kell Hounds learned about this unit the hard way, getting nuked by Word of Blake's most homicidal trash can.
• Too Desperate to Be Picky: This is the UrbanMech's target audience. It isn't really built to duel anything it can't surprise, but if you need credible firepower on the cheap to harass or deter urban infiltrators until The Cavalry arrives, it can get the job done without eating up your repair & maintenance budget entirely.
• The Workhorse: The Urbie is both dirt cheap and simple to use (although nigh impossible to truly master), it was designed to be mass produced and repaired for a pittance, and thus, is a fixture of most urban militia lances, as its design makes it both expendable and very effective at that particular battlefield.
• Zerg Rush: Calling it a "rush" is perhaps overstating it on a 'Mech chassis this slow, but the Urbanmech's cheap per-unit cost means it's most effectively employed as a pack hunter, with multiple Urbies converging on a single ambush point from different angles of approach.

Wasp WSP-1A

To Infinity... And a lawsuit.

^{Click here to see the Unseen design}

Production Year: 2464
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 20 tons

The original reconaissance 'Mech, brought into prominence in 2464. It was revolutionary for its time for being one of the first 'Mechs capable of using jump jets, and it's kept to its recon, hit-and-run style of use for centuries primarily due to just how solid its initial design is.

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• Arm Cannon: Its medium laser is built into the 'mech's right wrist.
• Boring, but Practical: As a 20-ton light 'mech, it carries pratically nothing but some symbolic weaponry, jump jets and a smidgeon of armour. It's extremely cheap and can be built anywhere in-universe, and in-game perfectly designed to sink all its heat while jumping its full six squares and firing all its weapons.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: One of the Unseen and one of the most recognizable to anime fans, based on the mech form of the VF-1 Valkyrie from the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross. The Reseen version has a distinctly visible cockpit and a much blockier chest- and leg area.
  • This adds some Irony on to the 'mech's fluff: As mentioned below, it is one of the most widely-produced and available designs in the Inner Sphere, to the point where it's a common joke that convenience stores stock chips, beer, bait, tackle and spare parts for Wasps. Of course, thanks to the legal shenanigans that swept up the art for the Wasp in Real Life, the mini took many years to re-emerge and so it was de-facto one of the least-seen 'mechs on tabletops for a considerable amount of the game's history. It's only with the Kickstarter that this situation may finally be able to change and the mass availability of the design in fluff will be matched by actual availability of the miniature for play.
• Jump Jet Pack: The defining feature of the 'mech, the Wasp was the original prototype for Jump Jets.
• Leg Cannon: Carries a missile launcher in its left leg, though later versions would explicitly mount it on the outside of the 'mech's lower hip.
• Long Runner: Both in-universe and out: The Wasp was the first 'mech to mount Jump Jets in-universe and the first mass-produced 'mech still produced, and was one of the first 'mechs introduced in the first edition of Battledroids.
• Super Prototype: The Federated Suns attempted to create an updated version called the Super Wasp using tech from the Helm Memory Core. The facilities for the Super Wasp were destroyed in a raid by Wolf's Dragoons and the prototypes of the Super Wasp destroyed trying to defend it.
• Transforming Mecha: As befitting its inspiration, the Wasp was one of the Land-Air 'Mechs, back when rules for those still existed in the game (LAMs were removed due to the combination of the rules never quite being correctly balanced and the "Unseen" debacle).
• The Workhorse: The most-produced 'Mech in the Battletech-verse, bar none, and still in active production by the Dark Age. It has the "Ubiquitous" Quirk when these are used, making it extremely easy to repair on a campaign.

Wolfhound WLF-2

Not Shown: Wolfish Grin

^{Click here to see a more wolfish interpretation}

Production Year: 3052
Weight Class: Light
Mass: 35 tons

A dependable and rugged design from the 31st century from the Lyran Commonwealth, designed primarily to put the Panther and Jenner 'Mechs from the Draconis Combine down. It's an energy-heavy light 'Mech that packs enough armor to survive its intended prey, at the cost of using mostly standard components under the hood to keep the cost of production down.

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• Arm Cannon: Its right arm is the muzzle of a Large Laser.
• Beam Spam: Based on an all-energy loadout, the Wolfhound mounts an ER Large Laser and four Medium Lasers (one rear-facing).
• Chest Blaster: The trio of medium lasers, arranged in a triangle in the middle of its chest.
• Depending on the Artist: Exactly how "wolfish" the 'Mech looks varies wildly from description to description.
• Made of Indestructium: As far as light 'Mechs go, at least. The Wolfhound carries maximum armor for its weight, has no ammunition-dependent weapons, and carries two medium lasers in the torso, meaning the only way to put it down for good is to take out the center torso or the head.
• Off with His Head!: Has a Full-Head Ejection System, so the whole head unit detaches and functions as an escape pod for the MechWarrior.
• Tactical Rock–Paper–Scissors: Designed by the Lyran half of the Federated Commonwealth to address perennial favorite Kurita light 'Mechs, the Jenner and Panther. It proved quite capable at this: able to snipe the Jenner from beyond the range of its SRMs and get close to the Panther, inside the minimum range of its PPC, and tear both apart with its assortment of lasers. In return, House Kurtia developed the Wolf Trap to counter the Wolfhound (it was notably less than successful).

Medium Mechs

Assassin ASN-21

Far less intimidating than the name would imply

Production Year: 2676
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 40 tons

The Assassin was born from the most tried and true method of securing military contracts: graft. The idea itself was not inherently bad: a fast scout 'Mech in the likes of an oversized Wasp or Stinger, but more robust. However, the final product proved too costly to be manufactured in similar amounts or quality as the 'Mechs it intended to replace. Undaunted, the creators bribed, pressured, and lied their way into success, and the Assassin was eventually adopted into service by the SLDF and the Free Worlds League. There, despite its reputation as a political pork-job, it proved itself to be adequate at its intended role of a medium sized skirmisher/reconnaissance BattleMech, but not quite as adequate as the 'Mechs it was intended to be an upgrade for.

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• Adaptational Badass: BattleTech gives it an integral targeting system known as an Intercept Suite that completely ignores three points of evasion no matter what, making it essentially a very welcome hard counter to Light 'Mechs (which themselves had their ability to evade attacks considerably buffed to Demonic Spiders levels since launch to counteract their previous Tier Induced Scrappy status and remain competitive in the late-game). This is apparently an early Clan Tech Equipment Upgrade, as the ones that appear in the game were salvaged from a crashed Clan Wolverine ship. There's also the fact that the game has no restrictions on weapon size beyond available tonnage, meaning there's nothing stopping players from dropping some other equipment and replacing its right arm M-laser with a PPC to turn it into a Glass Cannon.
• Arm Cannon: A rather underwhelming one. The Assassin's main weapon is a basic medium laser.
• Chest Blaster: Most models hold LRM and SRM launchers mounted in the side torsos as their main firepower.
• Cutting Corners: The design was a mess from the get-go, between shoddy weapons workmanship, questionable joints, and bad cockpit design. The cockpit especially is one of the most-cramped of any Inner Sphere 'Mech and has defied centuries of attempts to fix it. The later ASN-109 model leans into it by using a Small Cockpit, which has the same penalties as the "Cramped Cockpit" quirk but trades off with weight and space savings.
• Depending on the Artist: Is its cockpit a fighter jet-style canopy on top or crammed into the tiny "face" on the front? The current sourcebooks go with the latter as it fits with the 'Mech having the "cramped cockpit" trait in the rules, whereas the computer games go with the former, with the nose apparently being some kind of sensor suite or a dive-bomber style lower viewport.
  • It appears that according to Word of God, it is meant to be the latter. A poster on the official BattleTech forums posted pictures of the original BattleDroids 'Mechs, including the Assassin, painted by the actual scupltor of those minis, Robert N. Charrette ^note who was also a prolific author for the game as well in the '80s and '90s, who added much to the lore for House Kurita, for instance in his novels Wolves on the Border and Heir to the Dragon. The minis show only the small restricted glazing on the nose painted as cockpit glass, meaning that the intent of the original sculptor was that was where the cockpit was meant to be.
• Equipment Upgrade: Later models would be designed to fill different battlefield functions, most obvious in the ASN-99 model, a forward artillery spotter model, which was given a better, lighter, engine, stealth armour and an honest to god 'Mech sized sword for emergencies, along with Target Acquisition systems to call for indirect fire.
• Fragile Speedster: Taking cues from the Wasp and Stinger models, the Assassin makes up for its lack of armour by being incredibly fast and manouverable. Not as well, but good enough to get by.
• Inventional Wisdom: The decision to swap for a medium pulse laser over a standard laser is already somewhat questionable, since the design is already terribly fragile. The decision to mount an Artemis IV fire-control package on a tiny LRM-5 launcher is definitely a bad idea, as the investment of a ton and a quarter-million C-Bills only amounts to one extra point of damage every three missile hits.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Well, by decent. Even when it was introduced, other designs could do anything it could do better, and probably cheaper as well.
• Sketchy Successor: The 3050-era 'upgrade' model, the ASN-23 is one of the most questionable upgrades in the entire Technical Readout for that year. Doing nothing to solve its weak defenses or poor heat management, the upgrade just packs on expensive but largely impotent technology. It almost makes you wonder if graft was involved... again.

Blackjack BJ-1

The thing you give to militiamen so they can tell people to (hippity-hoppity) get off their property.

Production Year: 2757
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 45 tons

The Blackjack was originally designed by GM during the reunification wars as a response to the SLDF's call for a dedicated counter-insurgency ^note read: mostly shooting at protestors BattleMech. The design was quickly approved for use and the prototype BJ-1X was swiftly deployed into the Periphery for garrison duties. The long list of performance issues that came up almost bordered on comedy, which led to them developing a notoriously bad reputation and consequently being mothballed or sold to the black market and eventually being used by the very insurgents it was supposed to be fighting. Despite the reputation, however, the second incarnation of the Blackjack, the BJ-1, was a very solid 'Mech. With superb manouverability, range and battlefield endurance, it eventually shed its bad reputation and garnered a new one as a very effective, simple and, above all, deadly, weapon.

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• Arm Cannon: The Blackjack's arms serve only as housing for its main guns.
• Boring, but Practical: Its not at all glamorous, with a pair of small autocannons and a respectable amount of lasers at its disposal, but it is definitely effective at what it does. Most of the tactics employed in its deployment can be summed up thusly: 1: form a firing line facing the enemy. 2: keep enemy at range. 3: concentrate fire on priority targets. 4: Repeat until enemy either dead, retreating or no longer a concern.
• Flawed Prototype: The BJ-1X was, by all accounts, superbly crappy. How crappy? Well, it tended to fall over on its own due to poorly designed feet and legs, and the armour was subpar and tended to fall off on its own. The reputation it got was so bad it got the Blackjack labeled a subpar 'Mech for centuries.
• Jack of All Stats/Master of None: Somewhere in-between. The Blackjack doesn't excel at any particular task, but is decently competent at most. It has an undersized engine for a medium 'Mech, but also has a full complement of Jump Jets. It has a mixture of long- and short-range weaponry that deal decent but not incredible amounts of damage and gives it Anti-Air capabilities, and its armour, while somewhat subpar in the back, is adequate to stand up to most light 'Mechs. It is also a rather cheap buy at 3.1 million C-bills or 900-ish BV. This was averted with the prototype, which was specifically designed for anti-insurgency duties and virtually nothing else, packing a larger engine, a quartet of medium lasers, and a pair of flamers.
• Kill It with Fire: The original BJ-1X is armed with a pair of flamers in place of the autocannons. It wouldn’t do much against other ‘Mechs, but it does well in burning infantry, and buildings of rebellious populace.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Oh, so many, The Blackjack spent centuries being relegated to the dustbin of faulty and disliked 'Mechs, but as soon as Michael Ubodo made headlines by making his epic stand in Xhosa VII (see Once Done, Never Forgotten below), interest in the design immediately skyrocketed, highlights include:
  • The BJ-1DB variant, which upgrades its weaponry by switching out the autocannons and medium lasers with a pair of Large Lasers and an extra ton of armor, both improving its survivability and increasing its endurance by eliminating ammo concerns.
  • The BJ-1DC which removes the jump jets in exchange for a pair of small lasers and an extra heatsink, improving the base model's rather lacking close quarters firepower.
  • The BJ-2 which replaces the weapons loadout with a pair of high-end large lasers and a quartet of SRM-2 launchers, giving it a very respectable close range punch along with good long range fighting capabilities, at the price of not having great range synergy.
  • The BJ-3, a variant mostly used by the St. Ives Compact after it broke away from the Capellan Confederation, which replaces the arm weaponry with a pair of PPCs, which makes it excel in long range combat, with double heatsinks to compensate for its ridiculous heat generation.
  • As lost technology was recovered, the Federated Suns came out with a new variant that had better equipment. Once the Inner Sphere got their hands on OmniPod technology, they created an OmniMech version with even more upgrades.
• Mini-Me: It's essentially a smaller, more mobile Rifleman, with the arm weapons both downgraded a tier.
• National Weapon: Downplayed. But true in two countries:
  • Once it was proven effective (see below), the Federated Suns fell in love with the Blackjack, partly due its utility in their combat doctrine, partly because it scared the pants off their perennial adversaries in the Draconis Combine, and partly because it's got autocannons, and Davions love anything with autocannons. While it didn't come be associated with the Federated Suns (or the Suns associated with it) exclusively, they were the ones who pushed for the design of an OmniMech version of the Blackjack during the Truce of Tukayyid.
  • After the St. Ives Compact seceded from the Capellan Confederation, a modified, upgraded version of the Blackjack with two PPCs, the BJ-3, became the signature weapon of the St. Ives military.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Subverted. The BJ-1 was eventually given the recognition it deserved some 300 years after it appeared when a FedSuns Lieutenant named Michael Ubodo and his militiamen driving BJ-1s stood their ground against a numerically superior and better trained assaulting Kuritan force and wiped the floor with them by playing to their 'Mech's strengths and proving the design's capabilities. Years later, while fending off an opportunistic Clan incursion amid the FedCom Civil War, Ubodo would again prove the model's worth with his modified ''Blackjack'', nicknamed "Arrow", when he successfully held off several groups of headhunting Elementals.
• The Workhorse: Given its simple and inexpensive design, ease of use, and its redeemed reputation, the Blackjack was almost ubiquitous in garrison and second-line units where it could be assigned to part-time volunteers and green recruits knowing that they'd be capable of making effective use of it.

Centurion CN9-A

One of the most solid mid-weight workhorse 'Mechs around.

^{Click here to see the old design}

Production Year: 2801
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

Designed in 2801 to specifically fight alongside the Trebuchet 'Mech, the Centurion has become the unofficial mascot 'Mech of the Federated Suns thanks to their ubiquity and reliability in their armed forces. A solid Medium-class option for any lance, though its Autocannon is very prone to jamming.

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• Achilles' Heel: All of its ammo bins are located in its torso. If either gets hit, the 'Mech will blow up like a box of firecrackers.
• Arm Cannon: The Centurion's right arm is almost entirely taken up by an AC/10.
• Bash Brothers: Unusually for a 'Mech design, the Centurion was designed to work with the Trebuchet fire support 'Mech as a pair from the start.
• Boring, but Practical: A mid-weight, decently-armed, decently-armored 'Mech with a good array of weapons, solid ground speed and no jump jets, the Centurion is one of the foundational workhorses of most Inner Sphere armies.
• Chest Blaster: A twofer: the medium laser in the center torso and LRM rack in the right breast. MechWarrior Online and HBS BattleTech do away with rear-facing weapons, so the Centurion has both medium lasers in the middle of its torso pointing forward.
• Close-Range Combatant: With the exception of the LRM-10, the Centurion fights best at close range. With Quirks active it has improved accuracy with all weapons when inside their "close" range bracket (1-3 hexes for the Lasers and 1-5 for the AC/10).
• Depending on the Artist: As can be seen above, while the original artwork depicts the Centurion as relatively tall and slender for a Medium 'Mech, later versions tend to look considerably beefier. The current computer game model isn't even recognizable as the same 'Mech apart from the gun arm and the fin on its head, having broad shoulders and short, stocky legs that are best described as ape-like.
• Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Newer designs of the Centurion has its left arm shaped with a big armour plate on it, looking like a makeshift shield. As that arm is completely empty components-wise, Centurion pilots usually employ a "shield arm" strategy and pivot the 'Mech to present the left arm in front, so it can absorb shots meant for its more fragile right side.
  • Taken to extremes in MWO with the Hero Mech Centurion Onyx, which carries a massive, Gundam-esque shield in its left hand.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Comes equipped with an LRM-10, a respectable amount of missiles for a medium 'Mech that isn't designed for this trope.
• Made of Indestructium: Downplayed. The Centurion isn't quite a "Zombiemech", having Autocannon and LRM ammunition that could explode and destroy it. But the left arm has nothing at all in it, so damage there won't hamper the 'Mech, and both medium lasers (one front, one rear) are in the center torso, so if it loses its right arm and left torso without suffering an ammo explosion, it can still fight until cored or headchopped. The CN9-AL variant, which replaces the autocannon with a large and small laser, comes closer to a true "Zombiemech."
• Meaningful Name: Has a sensor and/or communications system on top of its head that gives it a passing resemblance to a Roman galea helmet. The current sourcebook illustration and computer game model both strengthen the resemblance by adding armor to the sides of its cockpit window resembling cheek guards.
• Mid-Season Upgrade: Much like the Blackjack above, the Centurion got numerous upgrade models. Besides the Succesion Wars variants that swapped out the AC/10 for an AC/20 or a Large Laser, the CN9-D brought Star League-era technology to the design. Upgrading to an XL engine and an endo-steel chassis boosted the 'Mech's speed by fifty percent, while an LBX-10 autocannon gave it more flexibility and left enough room to add an Artemis IV fire-control system to the LRM launcher.
• Reliably Unreliable Guns: The Centurion's AC/10 has ammunition feed issues and is prone to jamming: When playing with Quirks on it can jam just like an Ultra AC can.

Chameleon CLN-7V

That'll learn ya.

Production Year: 2510
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

The Chameleon is a fast 'Mech designed as a dedicated training platform for pretty much any Light and Medium-class 'Mech. As a result, it's rarely actually seen much combat that wasn't simulated, but even when it does get out there, it has a surprising habit of being pretty useful in a firefight.

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• Art Evolution: While never officially declared "unseen", its original illustration is very obviously a VF-1 with its head replaced with a large, tinted canopy. As can be seen above, this is no longer the case.
• Beam Spam: It's rare for a Medium 'Mech to have six different lasers on it.
• Boring, but Practical: Again, by design, as it was meant to be used for training rather than being a combat powerhouse. While that hefty 300-rated engine makes it rather expensive for a 50-ton 'Mech, it's fast, almost completely ammo-independent, and packs a surprising punch for its size.
• Glass Cannon: It's fast, comes standard with a quartet of Jump Jets, and if you don't mind melting the 'Mech can put out a decent amount of damage, but it has a relatively paltry seven tons of armor. Justified, since it was a training 'Mech and never meant to see actual combat.
• Lightning Bruiser: Moves pretty fast and has a decent arsenal for a medium 'Mech. Intentional, since the point of it is to school new MechWarriors (especially light or medium 'Mech pilots) in maneuvering and heat management.
• Meaningful Name: The Chameleon is designed to change its appearance fairly easily, mounting flimsy panels to make it look like anything from a light 'Mech to an assault 'Mech for training purposes.
• Not the Intended Use: Designed exclusively as a training 'Mech, Chameleons have been forced onto actual battlefields, where the acquit themselves surprisingly well.
• Overheating: By design. The Chameleon mounts a huge array of mostly energy-based weapons (a Large Laser, 2 Medium Lasers, 3 Small Lasers, and two Machine Guns), but only ten standard heat sinks. The point is to get new MechWarriors used to watching their heat gauge and managing their fire. While it does moderately well in actual combat scenarios, that machine gun ammunition can reduce the 'Mech to a crater if the heat gauge spikes too high.

Cicada CDA-2A

Chirping Crickets, the BattleMech.

Production Year: 2740
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 40 tons

Originally designed by Hartford Industries as a competitor to the venerable Locust, the Cicada was adopted by the Star League and served as a medium-weight scouting 'Mech, finding its way into all the Great Houses after Hartford's storages of Cicadas were plundered during the First Succession War. Built specifically to match the Locust in a bigger frame, the Cicada's most famous call to fame is its mounting of a truly massive 320-rating engine^note the engine is typically used in faster assault 'Mechs in order to reach that ground speed and being notoriously underarmed as a result.

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• Beam Spam: If you can call a Medium Laser and two small ones 'spam'.
• Equipment Upgrade: The post-Helm variants produced by the FWL, starting with the -3M variant, were considerably better than the original version as the XL engine took the engine from over half the Cicada's mass to just over a quarter. Even then, the Cicada remained something of a niche product since its main role was already fulfilled — and better — by considerably cheaper light 'Mechs.
• Flawed Prototype: Early Cicada production runs had notoriously faulty heat sinks, though the problem was later fixed by a change of manufacturer.
• Fragile Speedster: And how. As a 40-tonner, the Cicada's 7 tonnes of leftover free space after the engine and frame is installed means it cannot be expected to carry anything remotely close to weapons common in its weight class, nor is it possible for the Cicada to max out the armor a 40-ton 'Mech is allowed to carry. The Cicada is outgunned by a Spider, though its heavier chassis means it might outlast one. Even the models that replace the standard 320-rated engine with a 280-rated engine to gain some weight are relatively lightly armed and armored for a 40-ton 'Mech, and even with the smaller engine, a top speed of 113 kmh is incredible for a medium 'Mech and pretty dang good for a light 'Mech.
• Inventional Wisdom: The entire 'Mech could be considered one, offering the speed and firepower of a Locust stuffed into a larger frame and costing over twice as much per unit due to its oversized fusion engine. In many ways, the Cicada is a repeat of the mistakes of the older Charger in a chassis half the size. Part of this may have been Hartford's inexperience - the Cicada was their first and only 'Mech design - but why anyone would want a Locust that was twice as expensive and wasn't particuarly more capable remains a mystery.
• Leg Cannon: The Cicada CDA-3C was built with machine guns in its legs to harry infantry, being one of very few 'Mechs to mount leg guns.
• Lost Technology: The Cicada's main production line on the planet Bryant was destroyed by the Rim Worlds Republic shortly after the Amaris Coup. The Capellans attempted to restart it in 2840, but they couldn't do much more than a pair of prototype runs before they had to refocus their efforts elsewhere. No new Cicadas were produced until the Free Worlds League restarted one in 3049, though the sheer number of Cicadas produced and stored beforehand meant it remained relatively abundant for most of that time.
• Superior Successor: After getting their hands on OmniPod technology, the Draconis Combine used the Cicada as a base for the Strider, which had three-quarters the speed, twice the armor, and far more firepower than the Cicada.

Clint CLNT-2-3T

You see, in this world there’s two kinds of people, my friend: Those with loaded guns and those who dig. You dig.

Production Year: 2608
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 40 tons

A design dating to the era of the Star League, the Clint was meant to be an inexpensive recon 'Mech and general-purpose light combat unit. While its battlefield service was decent, its maintenance requirements proved to be an absolute nightmare. In order to win contracts with low bids, the Clint had been built on the cheap; critical parts had terribly short service lives and other parts were built with proprietary components, preventing easy standardization. Technicians despised the Clint and spare parts were always an issue—finding them was no guarantee, and ensuring that they were built to spec even less so. As a result the Clint nearly suffered a slow, obscure extinction by attrition and parts shortages, but the Gray Death Legion's discovery of the Helm Memory Core gave it a new lease on life. Luckily, this included finding a manufacturer who was willing to actually spend a little extra money for decent parts, and so this simple but effective scout survived to reconnoiter another day.

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• Arm Cannon: The right arm always terminates in some kind of large-bore weapon, either of the ballistic or heavy energy variety.
• Boring, but Practical: A moderately fast, lightly armed, low-cost recon unit isn't particularly novel, but it serves well and is an acceptable scout (when it's not suffering from parts shortages).
• Chest Blaster: Tends to carry a few lasers in the torso for backup, though getting into laser range is not good for the Clint's health.
• Cutting Corners: Did they ever. So many corners were cut that it's a wonder the Clint isn't perfectly spherical. The decision to use lower-cost or proprietary parts means that while they were able to deliver units cheaply, those same parts wear out quickly or are almost impossible to replace, resulting in some Clints having an effective service lifespan of less than a year before something major wore out or broke. Worst of all was the gyro, an entirely unique model used only on the Clint and not compatible with more common gyro equipment, described as 'priceless' as a result. As a result, many Clints ended up spending more time in the garage being worked on than in action in the field.
• Equipment Upgrade: The proliferation of Lostech after the Helm Memory Core release gave the Clint a much needed boost—going from a paltry Autocannon-5 to a much more lethal extended-range PPC, and adding double heat sinks as well as replacing the old medium lasers with more powerful pulse variants. It didn't solve the 'Mech's other problems, but, baby steps.
• Even Beggars Won't Choose It: After a fashion. Even in the Too Desperate to Be Picky state of the Succession Wars, most of the Clint models still in existence were shipped off to quiet areas to be used for defense rather than use them in combat. The Capellans did field some in front-line units, but maintaining them was enough trouble without adding the complications of a higher risk of battle damage.
• Flawed Prototype: The earliest prototype mounted a 100mm Autocannon-10 on the arm, a fairly lethal piece of equipment for a 40-ton 'Mech. However, doing this required that the 'Mech be slower and lacking in other areas such as armor and backup weapons. Engineers also discovered that the recoil from firing the gun was so severe that it nearly snapped the arm off at the elbow, forcing them to replace it with a much tamer 50mm Autocannon-5. On the upside, the smaller main gun allowed them to increase the engine size for better speed and jump capability.
• Fragile Speedster: The 'Mech moves at a respectable 97 kph and jumps 180 meters, but its meager 4.5 tons of armor is the kind of protection you'd find on a 'Mech half its size (for comparison, this is almost the armor value of a Locust), to the point that a single PPC hit can cripple the 'Mech.
• Jump Jet Pack: Six jump jets help keep the 'Mech mobile. Notably it carries a very low-heat autocannon and can comfortably jump around taking pot shots for ages.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: The Clint just doesn't have the armor to stay in a fight, even against light 'Mechs. Instead, it has to fight on the edges of the battle and not look too important, avoiding damage rather than tanking it.
• Lightning Gun: The CLNT-2-3U upgrade includes double heat sinks and an ER PPC. This upgrade proved so popular that it completely overtook the original autocannon-carrying variant in production and now most Clints are known for PPC sniping.
• Master of None: Unfortunately, due to a lack of dedicated recon equipment the basic Clint is not much of a scout in any sense other than being a visual spotter. Combine this wth weak armor and anemic firepower and it's hard for the original Clint to be much other than a nuisance. Later Clints would be reworked with improved equipment to become excellent target spotters.
• No Plans, No Prototype, No Backup: While the original Clint models never carried any particularly advanced technology, the design was created and produced by a minor firm on a single planet. When the factory was destroyed during the Succession Wars, the blueprints and records went with it, meaning that not only was it impossible to produce new spare parts, but it was difficult to tell how many had even been made.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Well, by sustainable. The Clint is an adequate fast-recon-and-raiding medium 'Mech, eclipsed by an excellent fast-recon-and-raiding medium 'Mech in the Phoenix Hawk. The Phoenix Hawk has the benefit of slightly better firepower and much beter armor, as well as having far more spare parts of reasonable quality that don't wear out faster than cheap socks. It should say something that by 3025, barely 300 Clints had been manufactured... while at the same time, Phoenix Hawks were built by the thousands.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: The Clans took Clints with them in the Exodus and figured out how to get a 100mm autocannon on the arm. As such, they chose to put their LB-X autocannon there (along with a whopping four tons of ammo!) for maximum effect, making it more lethal against vehicles, infantry, and anyone unlucky enough to have an armor breach.
• Shout-Out: There's very few noteworthy things out there named 'Clint' to be named after, other than the eponymous film star, at the time mostly known for his gunslinging.
• Superior Successor: The Clans developed a Clint IIC variant that improved the armor to seven tons, upgraded the gun to an LB-10X autocannon, and replaced the antiquated lasers with lethal Clantech ER lasers. Though still relegated to the scout and flanker role, this version of the Clint has much nastier teeth. The CLNT-2-3U and later -5U and -6S variants feature an excellent spread of energy weapons and targeting equipment to better help it in its scouting role.

Crab CRB-27

You can look a little goofy, as long as you're dangerous — Scrombles the MechWarrior

Production Year: 2719
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

The unusual Crab was designed during the Star League's final days, where it quickly distinguished itself as a speedy, easy to maintain, and well equipped for long-range missions, and while it became harder to find with time and the politics of the universe, it's a beloved part of any regiment that still has one.

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• Arm Cannon: Both arms are little more than Large Laser muzzles with clawlike protective housings.
• Beam Spam: Two large lasers, a medium laser, and a small laser are all the weapons a Crab has.
• Chest Blaster: Inasmuch as the Crab has a chest, it's dominated by its medium laser.
• Depending on the Artist: No two artists can seem to agree on what its lefthand is supposed to be. The original artwork depicts it with a humanoid hand, the computer game concept art has a much simpler arrangement of thin, metal claws while the actual in-game model just has two identical pincers. The computer game version also depicts it having a cab on top right in front of the prominent radar dish, while the location of the "head" is mounted further forward in the tabletop version, not unlike the Assassin.
• Lost Technology: The high-tech communications equipment and advanced armor became lostech with the devastation of the Succession Wars, and the downgraded CRB-20 had less armor protection and less effective as a raider as a result.
• Made of Indestructium: Another classic "zombiemech." The Medium Laser and Small Laser are in the Center Torso and Head respectively, it has no ammunition or other explosive components, and only a standard engine, meaning the thing can still fight until cored or headchopped. Their technicians loved how easy it was to put these things back together after engagements that the phrase "Crab walk" became synonymous with any 'Mech that took less time than usual to maintain.
• Power Pincers: Subverted. The big clawlike structures at the end of its arms are not these, nor are they even proper hand actuators. They're simply protective housings for the large lasers. It's actually inadvisable to punch with a Crab, as this can (according to fluff, anyway) damage the lasers.

Enforcer ENF-4R

Proudly shooting House Davion's enemies since 2777.

Production Year: 2777
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

Introduced by the Federated Suns in the waning years of Star League, the Enforcer is a close-to-mid-range 50-ton brawler with a good mix of jump capability, armor (at least in the front), and firepower. It ultimately became an iconic staple of the FedSuns armed forces, in part because almost three hundred years of near-uninterrupted production meant there were always plenty of them around, and in part because anything with an AC/10 for an arm was going to score points with the FedSuns regardless of any other factors.

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• Achilles' Heel: The ENF-4R pays for its thick frontal armor with thin rear armor and carries only a single ton of ammunition for its autocannon, making longevity a problem. It's also not particularly fast, with a top speed of only 64.8 km/h. All of these issues are addressed in the updated ENF-5D variant produced in 3050 (though that 'Mech acquires its own Achilles' Heel in the form of heat — while its weapons and jump jets are upgraded, its heat sinks aren't, making it less heat-efficient than the ENF-4R).
• Arm Cannon: Both of the Enforcer's arms end in powerful guns, an AC/10 on the right and a Large Laser on the left. Both are also sufficiently reinforced that they can be used as fairly effective bludgeons in a pinch.
• Boring, but Practical: The Enforcer's trademark. Nothing about it is particularly spectacular, but it delivers reliable performance consistently.
• Chest Blaster: The Enforcer carries a Small Laser in the left torso, for a bit of extra firepower when the enemy closes to knife-fight range.
• Jump Jet Pack: Every standard model has come with at least a few jump jets, making it even better in a city-fight as it can pop in and out of trouble by boosting over buildings.
• National Weapon: The Enforcer is strongly associated with the Armed Forces of the Federated Suns and their successors, the Armed Forces of the Federated Commonwealth.
• Reliably Unreliable Guns: The ammunition feed for the Enforcer's autocannon arm can be a bit... finicky. If playing with Quirks, the autocannon has a chance to jam whenever it's fired (though it also generates slightly less heat to compensate).
• Superior Successor: The ENF-6M Enforcer III, produced in 3059, is essentially an Enforcer rebuilt from the ground up with post-Clan Invasion technology.
• Urban Warfare: The Enforcer performs particularly well in this theater of battle, maximizing its strengths and minimizing its weaknesses by using its jump capability to perform hit-and-run sniper attacks.
• The Workhorse: The Federated Suns would produce some form of Enforcer from the twilight years of Star League all the way up to the Jihad, a span of nearly three hundred years (and if one includes the Enforcer III as well, that service life extends all the way into the Dark Age). During that time, the Enforcer helped House Davion solve all manner of problems by the simple expedient of drowning them in autocannon and laser fire until they stopped being problems.

Griffin GRF-1N

55 tonnes of solid fire support.

Production Year: 2492
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 55 tons

One of the older 'Mechs still kicking around, the Griffin was initially considered a Heavy-class middle ground between the ridiculously large Mackie and the tiny Wasp, and briefly dominated in that late 25th century before the codification of the Medium-Class, where it now sits as a ubiquitous part of any Lance, in part thanks to the numbers of companies who make them.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Griffin is unusual in that all its weapons are on one side of the 'Mech, with the other side completely bereft of vital components. The Griffin can lose its entire left arm and torso with no ill effects (except for punching), but if the right side goes down first the 'Mech is dead weight (except for punching). This is often exploited by players by always pointing the left side towards enemies to avoid the loss of weapons and other components in what's known as the "Shield Arm" strategy. Frequently exaggerated when playing around with the 'Mech construction rules instead of the default loadout, wherein all jump lets and heat sinks will be moved to the right or dropped in favor of maxing out the left side's armor cap.
• Arm Cannon: Like its fellow mediums the Shadow Hawk and Wolverine the Griffin carries its main weapon in its right hand; in this case a PPC.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The 2N "Royal Griffin" variant, fielded exclusively by the SLDF's royal regiments before the Amaris Civil War. It featured a pair of SRM missile launchers on both shoulders, upgraded its PPC to an ER version (thus making the Royal Griffin much more dangerous up close), and added double heat sinks and an ECM suite.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: An Unseen 'Mech, the Griffin's original design is that of the Soltic H8 "Roundfacer" from Fang of the Sun Dougram. It was, like the Shadow Hawk and Wolverine, eventually Reseen through a legally distinct model.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: The Griffin is designed for this; it lacks the heat sinks to engage with all its weapons for long, especially if it's also moving, and will have to use its Jump Jets to leap out of sight range of heavier foes.
• Jack of All Stats: One of the trio of 55-tonne 'Mechs with a potential role in almost any lance, the Griffin is solid across the board; only the minimum range of its weaponry keeps it from truly being able to fill any role.
• Jump Jet Pack: Jump Jet capable and mounting five of the things, the Griffin is intended for use as a fire support and skirmisher and loses a lot of its role if it cannot jump away.
• Long-Range Fighter: Equipped with a PPC and an LRM-10, both the Griffin's weapons are intended for a long-range support role.
• National Weapon: Despite their love for the heaviest 'Mechs they can find, two Griffins from the Lyran Royal Guards will traditionally flank the Archon's throne on Tharkad.
• Overheating: The Griffin only has the standard ten engine heat sinks and as such tends to suffer from this due to its heat-intensive PPC: Merely firing its main gun while moving, nevermind jumping or adding LRM barrages, quickly causes it to overheat. The most common Griffin variant, the 1S, was built by House Steiner to adress its heat issues by downgrading the PPC and LRM-10 to a Large Laser and LRM-5 respectively, and installing four heat sinks and a pair of Medium Lasers in their place.
• Power Fist: Should it ever find itself in a melee, the Griffin has Battlefists and is capable of a solid 5 damage per punch.
• Shoulder Cannon: Its LRM-10 is mounted on its right shoulder.
• Super Prototype: The Federated Suns attempted to upgrade the Griffin to a full-fledged heavy 'Mech as part of its "Project Phoenix". All prototypes of this Super Griffin, alongside its production facility, was destroyed by Wolf's Dragoons.
• Vertical Mecha Fins: The Griffin has a pair of spoiler plates on its shoulders, shielding the cockpit and the shoulder-mounted LRM.
• The Workhorse: The Griffin is one of the oldest 'Mech designs in existence, reaching back to 2492 and was a mid-point between the Mackie and Wasp in early 'Mech design. With Quirks active the Griffin is both "Rugged" and "Ubiquitous", making it easy to repair or replace if needed. Its role in 'Mech warfare is so entrenched that securing supplies of spares was a serious strategic concern for all the Great Houses during the Succession Wars, to the point that the Capellans had a minor crisis when their supplier was captured, eventually resorting to buying whole production runs from the Taurians.

Hatchetman HCT-3F

Axe First, Questions Later!

Production Year: 3023
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 45 tons

The Hatchetman is a product of a combination of the Federated Commonwealth industry and the expertise of mad scientist/mercenary Dr. B. Banzai. Designed to carry a respectable package of conventional weaponry and a 'Mech-sized hatchet that can tear apart components with ease, the Hatchetman pretty quickly became the king of close quarters fighting, being able to either blast down smaller 'Mechs at a respectable range with its large autocannon or tear larger opponents apart with its namesake axe.

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• Achilles' Heel: The Hatchetman has almost no rear armouring at all, being designed to ambush opponents in close quarters. Combined with all the explosive ammo being carried in its Centre Torso, a lucky rear shot will put the Hatchetman out of comission instantly.
• Anti-Air: Due to a quirk in its design, the Hatchetman's default targeting computer is optimalized for aircraft and gives it the "anti-air" Quirk when these are enabled... But given the short range of its weaponry, don't expect to actually use it much for anti-air duty.
• Close-Range Combatant: Its main weapon is an axe, after all.
  • Taken even further with the computer game-exclusive 3X variant, which drops the autocannon in favor of a pair of SRM launchers and a whopping four machine guns.
• Critical Hit Class: The 3X again. Because machine guns combo with melee attacks in the PC game, it can cut through most 'Mechs' armor with the hatchet in one or two hits and then immediately spew a flurry of bullets into the now exposed internal structure which, though individually weak, are all but guaranteed to score crits on any weapons or other components mounted inside. The sheer volume of fire it can put into a damaged section without any chance to angle it away or otherwise defend makes it an excellent counter against "crit padding" builds.
• Glass Cannon: It's not very agile, fast or well armoured, but it hits as hard as an assault 'Mech in hand to hand fighting.
• Meaningful Name: Take a look at the name, guess what it uses as a primary weapon.
• National Weapon: For the Federated Commonwealth, it was pretty much a symbol of the union, as it used parts made by both the Federated Suns and Lyran Commonwealth.
• Non-Indicative Name: Because the Draconis Combine views axes as crude and uncivilised due to their reverence to the sword centric Samurai culture, they spent a lot of time and effort on reequipping a bunch of Hatchetman units with swords instead.
• Off with His Head!: A defensive variant, its entire head was designed to pop off when ejecting, allowing for a MechWarrior to make a quick escape if the rest of the 'Mech is compromised. This became quite important during the Battle of Twycross, when Kai Allard-Liao was forced to go into combat with Dr. Deirdre Lear riding his borrowed Hatchetman's rumble seat. Kai was forced to self-destruct the 'Mech to set off a booby trap and wipe out the Falcon Guard Cluster. In the same situation, a conventional ejection system would have worked fine for Kai, but left Dr. Lear to die.
• Urban Warfare: Excels at it, as an urban enviroment gives it more opportunities to bring its axe to bear. Similarly to the UrbanMech, its relatively slow speed is made up for with jump jets, letting it pull amazing ambush and hit-and-run attacks in an urban (or other sufficiently hindering) environment.

Hoplite HOP-4D

It's not impressive, sure, but it's got great air conditioning.

Production Year: 2578
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 55 tons

The Hoplite was thought up originally as an infantry support design during the early 'Mech warfare days. While most MechWarriors would praise its durability and endurance, primarily its very good heat management system, most would also deride it for its lack of mobility, mediocre firepower, and very limited arm controls. Despite being relegated to the scrap bin in the Inner Sphere amid the Succession Wars, it would find success during the SLDF Exodus, as the early days of the exile demanded rugged and simple designs. The Hoplite fit that bill perfectly, and would find its way into the Inner Sphere once more when reintroduced by the Wolf's Dragoons mercenary company, who were unaware that it was functionally extinct in the Inner Sphere.

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• Arm Cannon: Its arms are more or less a pair of actuators connected to the weapon mounts so they can aim up or down.
• Can't Catch Up: A product of the early 'Mech design era, its lack of serious firepower and subpar mobility, along with near non-existent arms would make it a rather unpopular design.
• Equipment Upgrade: Several, mostly based around firepower upgrades. The nascent Clans created an ersatz Royal-version upgrade, and the Wolf's Dragoons created a Clan-tech version after the Battle of Luthien. Oddly enough, it wasn't until the Jihad era that anyone bothered to upgrade the design's engine to more common Medium 'Mech standards.
• Inventional Wisdom: The Hoplite carries sixteen heat sinks. At most, it can generate six points of heat per turn (seven, for the Succesion Wars-era design). Worse, the 4C and 4D models have no ammo-independent weapons, meaning they'll be hard up if an engagement goes particularly long. Most models house some amount of ammunition in the center torso as well, meaning a good shot there can destroy the entire 'Mech.
• Lost Technology: Ran into this twice. The design was rendered virtually extinct in the Inner Sphere during the Amaris Crisis and the Succession Wars, and was only reintroduced by the Wolf's Dragoons as a result of In-Universe Factoid Failure. When they cut ties with the Clan Homeworlds, they also lost access to replacement machines and parts, and attrition brought it close to extinction again.
• Made of Iron: At 11.5 tons of armor, the Hoplite can take horrendous amounts of punishment, and will often outlast its opposition through sheer durability.
• Mighty Glacier/Stone Wall: In an era where a grade-10 Autocannon and a 5-tube missile launcher were adequate, it was considered a rugged Mighty Glacier. After 'Mech design doctrines started generating out heavily armed 'Mechs, it became pretty much just a Stone Wall.
• Mundane Utility: Everyone loved the Hoplite's air conditioning and heat management systems, as its armaments aren't very heat intensive. Carrying sixteen heat sinks means that the pilot will be comfortable even if running full-tilt across an active volcanic plateau and blasting their weapons at will.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: Armed with an LB10-X autocannon which can fire flechette rounds so it could better support infantry.

Hunchback HBK-4G

This is the Kali Yama Big Bore, the most powerful 'Mech gun in the world, and would blow your head clean off.

^{Click here to see the Older design}

Production Year: 2572
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

A Medium-Class 'Mech from the 26th century that is well feared even in the present. Initially designed as an urban combat skirmisher, the Hunchback is now most well known for its enormous Kali Yama Big Bore autocannon, which can shred through 'Mech armor at a moment's notice.

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• Achilles' Heel: All Hunchback variants carry their weapons in their Right Torso. Any Hunchback without said Right Torso is practically defanged and it is therefore common to focus-fire the Hunchback down from its right side.
• BFG: One of the smallest 'Mechs to naturally mount the massive Autocannon/20, which it was designed to wield.
• Beam Spam: The HBK-4P variant replaces the AC/20 with six Medium Lasers and ten heat sinks. The 4P deals even more damage than the base model, but is prone to overheating and lacks the "can opener" factor of stripping a compartment clean of armour in one shot.
• Close-Range Combatant: Designed for Urban Warfare, the Hunchback's primary weapons all work best at knife-fighting range.
• In-Universe Nickname: Non-AC/20 variants are known as "swaybacks", because the Hunchback's skeleton is designed from the bottom up for the weight and massive recoil of its Autocannon. Variants that remove the AC/20 are therefore prone to oddities in their gyros and balance, especially when firing their shoulder weapons.
• Inventional Wisdom: After the rediscovery of lostech, numerous upgraded models were developed. The 5M Hunchback upgraded to double-strength heat sinks and a small pulse laser and included CASE to prevent ammo explosions from destroying the 'Mech, but this required removing most of the ammunition supply for the autocannon. The 5N refit was promptly spawned and undid most of the upgrades in exchange for restoring the ammunition supply. All of this despite the fact that the 5M carries more double heat sinks than it could ever need. It took the manufacturer thirteen years to merge the two into the 6N, which carries CASE and a small pulse laser, and plentiful reloads for the autocannon.
• Made of Indestructium: The HBK-4P carries no ammo at all, and combined with its head-mounted Small Laser and heavy armour is a classic "zombiemech" that will keep coming until it's shot in the head.
• Mighty Glacier: Like the Centurion, the Hunchback mounts an undersized engine. In return for this lesser movement the Hunchback carries a gun even assault 'Mechs are careful around.
• Ranged Emergency Weapon: Carries a Small Laser in its head, allowing the Hunchback to keep firing until the very end.
• Red Shirt: By design, Hunchbacks were conceived to be absolutely dirt cheap, heavily armed, attritable resources any army may be able to expend and lose without worrying about replacing them. However, they were also meant to be able to seriously hurt anything in front of them, be that through BFG fire, Beam Spam, or Good Old Fisticuffs.
• Shoulder Cannon: The Hunchback's name comes from the shoulder-mounted weapon array mounted above its right central torso, no matter the variant.

Phoenix Hawk PXH-1

Launcher of a thousand lawsuits, free to fly once more. Reseen version.

^{Click here to see the Project Phoenix version}

^{Click here to see the original Unseen version}

Production Year: 2568
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 45 tons

The Phoenix Hawk began life as a strict upgrade from the Stinger 'Mech in 2568, as its manufacturers realized it was strong enough a design to improve upon. It's now the gold-standard of reconnaissance 'Mechs, but also has a respectable niche as a very useful command 'Mech. It's got quite a few powerful lasers, can flank with the best of them, and is very good at carving out niches for itself in most Lances, but they are notorious for their poor heat control.

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• Anti-Infantry: The machine guns and small lasers that show up on the 'Mech are excellent at cutting down swaths of infantry. It's also a reasonable Power Armor-infantry hunter.
• Arm Cannon: The medium lasers and machine guns are mounted in arm blisters which provide additional short-ranged firepower. The large laser is sometimes also put into an integrated forearm mount to try and differentiate it more from its original source material.
• Beam Spam: Most Phoenix Hawks mount multiple lasers for attack, and a few mount nothing but.
• BFG: For a 45-ton 'Mech, the large laser counts. It's over 11% of the Hawk's mass, and constitutes its primary weapon. The handful of variants carrying a PPC definitely count.
• Boring, but Practical: Lasers and machine guns on a jump-capable chassis sounds fairly pedestrian, but it's an excellent scout and flanker and very useful just about anywhere: in light units, it's a great command 'Mech, and in heavy units, it's quite capable for recon.
• Close-Range Combatant: Most Phoenix Hawks carry close-range weapons with one or two large long range weapons, and tend to do most of their damage in close range engagements.
• Depending on the Artist: Prior to the lawsuit, the original model art of the 'Mech was rarely followed and as a result it never seemed to have the same proportions or details twice; the only things which stuck were the twin backpack jets and the round head with four antenna.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The SLDF's variants are definitely much nicer than the stock variants, featuring much more powerful weapon packages and excellent scout/ECM equipment.
• Fragile Speedster: A textbook case for the early years of the franchise. Highly agile, with six jump jets and a ground speed over 90 kph, putting it on par with common scouts such as the Stinger or Wasp, but noticeably brittle for a medium 'Mech. Most concerningly, it did not have full head armor and was uncomfortably prone to dying outright to headshots that other 'Mechs might have just barely survived.
• Glass Cannon: In spite of its 8 tons of armor, which is reasonably decent for its weight class, it is still quite delicate, and is especially prone to losing limbs. As a tradeoff, later Hawks hit harder and often have nasty surprises in their equipment packages, such as particle projection cannons or plasma rifles.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: The series' poster child for this trope, as the Phoenix Hawk unquestionably looked the like the VF-1S Super Valkyrie Commander Type, and was squarely in Harmony Gold's crosshairs for decades. This led to its total visual overhaul for the Project Phoenix books and its absence from any visual depiction such as video games or sourcebooks. With the settling of the lawsuit, it has returned to visibility with a new, more stylish look.
• Hit-and-Run Tactics: A mandatory requirement in using one. It lacks adequate armor or firepower to stand and fight, so it has to stay mobile and avoid engaging directly, either whittling down opponents with sniper shots or flanking weaker side/rear armor angles.
• Inventional Wisdom: House Kurita's decision to remove the jump jets and machine guns from their versions of the Phoenix Hawk does serve to reduce the heat burden and provides room for more armor, but robs the 'Mech of its superb scouting/flanking/anti-personnel/raiding capabilities and leaves it noticeably undergunned in the direct fights that are now its sole duty. It also notably hamstrings the machine in any terrain that isn't flat, level open ground.
• Jump Jet Pack: Often seen with six jump jets arranged in a large paired rocket pack on its back.
• Limit Break: MASC, or Myomer Acceleration Signal Circuitry, is an option on some Hawks and accelerates their running speed to a brisk 120 kph, with the caveat that their leg joints might explode if they keep it up for more than a few seconds at a time.
• Master of None: The PHX-series Land-Air 'Mechs (note the different serial codes) look impressive, but still run hot, are even more fragile, and move slower in 'Mech mode, without carrying any extra firepower. It still has some utility as a scout, but it's a questionable area to focus on for a 50-ton 'Mech.
• Meaningful Name: “Phoenix” because of its hot-running nature, “Hawk” for its aerial agility.
• Overheating: Its bane. While agile and decently well armed, a stock Phoenix Hawk runs up so much excess heat that even a single jump and Alpha Strike will degrade its performance. Fortunately, the recovery of double heat sink technology helped relieve this matter somewhat.
• Shotguns Are Just Better: While the base model doesn't mount any weapons resembling them, the MWO version stylizes the energy weapon mounts on both arms to look like it's carrying a pair of SxS double-barreled shotguns. Also, the 1c variant of the Phoenix Hawk Special uses a Snub PPC, which is basically a shotgun that uses charged ions rather than lead.
• Superior Successor: One of the best upgrades during the early 3050 Clan era, where much-needed double heat sinks extended its longevity and extended-range weapons kept its still-fragile chassis out of the heavy fighting. Then the Clans showed up, and their second-line Garrison Cluters might be equipped with the Phoenix Hawk IIC, which is an 80-ton assault 'Mech version of the chassis, bearing two Ultra AC/10s and two machine guns (which is not terribly frightening, by assault 'Mech standards).
• Transforming Mecha: The very rare PHX-series Phoenix Hawks are Land-Air 'Mechs, and have the ability to transform into both an Aerospace Fighter and a hybrid “Airmech” plane-with-legs, making them lean very close to the original VF-1 Valkyries from Super Dimension Fortress Macross. Harmony Gold took particular umbrage over these designs.
• Vertical Mecha Fins: The twin jump packs on its back have intakes that extend well above its head, giving it the appearance of folded wings on its back.
• The Workhorse: One of the most common medium 'Mechs, it gets the "Ubiquitous" quirk when these are enabled. The Combat Manual: Kurita sourcebook even even calls Dispossessed pilots (MechWarriors who have have their 'Mechs shot out from under them) “Phoenix Hawk-bound” because odds were good that they would probably end up in a Phoenix Hawk as their next ride.

Shadow Hawk SHD-2H

Whether you want to get dug in and lob shells and missiles at the enemy or ram right into them, this 'Mech has you covered.

^{Click here to see the Unseen design}

Production Year: 2550
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 55 tons

The Shadow Hawk is a 26th century 'Mech that is often hailed as one of the better options in its weight class thanks to its medium range guns and jump jet capability. It was briefly only ever made by a few companies throughout its life, but has remained a fairly ubiquitous medium-class 'Mech.

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• Adaptational Wimp: Its design was based on the title mech of Fang of the Sun Dougram, which was a veritable One Mech Army able to go toe to toe with several enemy Combat Armors at once. In Battletech, however, while it's a decent medium Mech overall, it's generally considered one of the weaker 'Mechs in the 55-ton weight class.
• Arm Cannon: In contrast to the Wolverine, the Shadow Hawk carries a Medium Laser in its wrist.
• Elites Are More Glamorous: The SHD-2Hb Royal Shadow Hawk was designed exclusively for the SLDF Royal Regiments. It used a much more close-combat focused setup, including an LB-10-X.
• Flawed Prototype: The Shadow Hawk development process was marred by several defects in the original's armour plating. Proponents of the Wolverine would probably call the 'Mech itself one of these, given the Wolverine's more focused design.
• Glass Cannon: While most variants of the Shadow Hawk carry very respectable amounts of armor, the 2D variant adds another short-range missile launcher and another medium laser to the design in exchange for over half of its armor. This was a variant born of Federated Suns desperation during the First Succession War and was really only able to ambush and fall back without being destroyed.
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: Based on the "Dougram" Combat Armour from Fang of the Sun Dougram, and one of the most famous of the Unseen. The Reseen version has changed remarkably little while still legally distinct.
• Jack of All Stats/Master of None: Half a dozen of one, six of the other. The Shadow Hawk is a 55-tonne medium 'Mech capable of filling many roles, but none of them particularly well, and built as such by the Terran Hegemony. It is capable of indirect fire and has more long-range damage than its main competitor, the Wolverine, but is missing the latter's jump distance and close-up punch, and has half the long-range damage output and half its jumping distance of the Griffin but is marginally more dangerous close-up.
• Jump Jet Pack: Carries three, two less than the Griffin and Wolverine and making it as jump-capable as the twice-as-heavy Highlander. Another reason why the other two parts of the 55-triangle tend to be valued over it.
• Shoulder Cannon: Carries its main weapon, an AC/5, on its shoulder. Even in the Reseen version, it can flip up like in the Hero Armour.

Trebuchet TBT-5N

Delivering humongous missile barrages at affordable prices since 2799.

Production Year: 2799
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

The Trebuchet (affectionately known as the "trenchbucket" by its pilots) is a fire support 'Mech designed from the ground up to work with a lance instead of being a standalone model.

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• Ace Custom: The Trebuchet piloted by Sharron Burgoz of Kurita's "Sorenson's Sabres" started out as a custom model, sporting PPCs and an autocannon instead of the missile-heavy loadout of the stock Trebuchet. It was canonized as a production variant by House Kurita after Burgoz showed how effective the weapons configuration was.
• Achilles' Heel: Heat and ammunition. The 5N model only carries a single ton of ammunition for each LRM-15 launcher, enough for eight salvos when most tabletop battles run around fifteen rounds. It also generates twice as much heat as it can sink on an Alpha Strike, meaning it can use the missiles or the lasers, but not both.
• Affectionate Nickname: Known also as the "Trenchbucket"^note yes, its canon, presumably because it just sounds funny.
• Bash Brothers: The Trebuchet was designed to work with the Centurion, with the Centurion's heavy autocannon providing the close-range punch to the Trebuchet's long-range missile barrages. A particular Marik standard fire-support lance TOE includes one Centurion, two Trebuchets and one Archer.
• Boring, but Practical: The Trebuchet isn't particularly impressive on its own. But it boasts superb missile launching capabilities at a modest cost of 4.3 million C-Bills, only mildly inferior to those of the heavier and costlier Archer. Combined with a serviceable 7.5 tons of armour and more than adequate mobility, it quickly became one of the most sought-after 'Mechs in the Inner Sphere during the Succession Wars.
• Crippling Overspecialization: The standard model was made to shoot targets from afar with a massive ammounts of long range missiles. If anything comes closer than the missiles' minimum range, the Trebuchet is in for a rough time with only a trio of medium lasers to fall back on. This led to the development of the 5S model, which replaced the long-range missiles with short-range missiles and more heat sinks, meaning anyone who managed to close in on a Trebuchet lance would find a nasty surprise waiting for them.
• Lost Technology: The SLDF's TBT-3C model had virtually every advanced technology available - Artemis missile guidance, CASE, double heat sinks, endo-steel construction and an XL engine. When Star League fell, the 'Mech had to be redesigned to use more readily-available equipment.
• Macross Missile Massacre: Its specialty. Boasting a pair of LRM-15s, it can badly hurt most targets on its weight class or above before its close combat oriented lancemates take it down.
• The Work Horse: Intended to be one for fire-support 'Mechs when designed. It became a fixture of any lance in the Federated Suns that required indirect fire support, particularly alongside the Centurion and the Archer.

Uziel UZL-3s

It's a robot cassowary, with guns.

Production Year: 3065
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 50 tons

In a drastic departure from the usual Lyran design tradition the Uziel was envisioned by Defiance Industries as the epitome of a multi-role fighting machine. Outfitted with a vast amount of recently rediscovered weight-saving lostech, it carries a very varied loadout which allows it to fight effectively from virtually any range. Due to its extreme versatility, the Uziel was normally employed as a "trooper" 'Mech, doing anything that needed to be done, not exceptionally well, but well enough.

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• Animal Mecha: Designed to look like a large, flightless raptor bird, such as a cassowary.
• Arm Cannon: Both arms are used mostly to house lasers.
• Chicken Walker: Has reverse jointed legs to allow for better running.
• Close-Range Combatant: The Uziel packs an LB-2X autocannon, the longest-ranged weapon in the Inner Sphere arsenal, but it doesn't do much damage. The vast majority of the Uziel's firepower is effective within ten hexes.
• Fragile Speedster: Not due to a lack of armor, but an XL engine means a loss of either side torso will mission-kill the 'Mech. It also doesn't use CASE, meaning a good hit to the right torso internals will likely turn the 'Mech into a fireworks display.
• Jack of All Stats: It can run, jump, recon and fight at both long and close ranges decently well. It won't be as effective as a specialized 'Mech might be, but you can count on the Uziel to be decently effective at most jobs its given.
• Jump Jet Pack: It carries a full complement of six jump jets, making it exceptionally mobile.

Vindicator VND-1R

An eminently sensible medium 'Mech to pilot... Up until the point you have to eject from it.

Production Year: 2826
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 45 tons

The workhorse BattleMech of the Capellan Confederation, the Vindicator was designed in the brief lull between the first and second Succession Wars to restock the extremely badly mauled CCAF with a 'Mech that could do a little of everything. As a medium 'Mech it is a bit on the slowish side, but its array of weapons gives it good coverage and ability to do something at practically every range.

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• Arm Cannon: The entire right forearm is housing for the Vindicator's main weapon, a PPC. It completely lacks hand actuators in that arm.
• Boring, but Practical: Built upon the same concept as the later Cataphract and Po heavy tank, the Vindicator is cheap to build, uses domestic components to prevent import dependency and carries well-tested and already-extant weapons systems. It's a 'Mech that's almost a Griffin, but with better heat management, for two-thirds of the price (or 200 less BV in-game).
• Closest Thing We Got: The main benefit of the Vindicator is its flexibility and ease of mass manufacture, meaning the 'Mech-starved Capellans could produce a lot of them and have them plug whatever holes local forces needed plugged.
• Deadly Escape Mechanism: The Vindicator's ejection system was notoriously dangerous thanks to the Medium Laser taking up so much space in the head that parts of it intruded into the cockpit (you know, where the ejection seat is placed), resulting in the ejection seat sometimes hitting those intruding components on the way out and exploding. The bug was eventually fixed after the War of 3039, some 200-odd years after the 'Mech's creation.
• Equipment Upgrade: The CCAF under Romano Liao favoured upgrading the Vindicator with new-found Lost Technology over designing a new medium 'Mech to replace it. Consequently, the Vindicator has several variants that gradually implement more and more newly-rediscovered technology as it is introduced.
• Exact Words: On the part of the designers. Virtually all of the equipment onboard a -1R Vindicator is made by Ceres Metals, but the Confederation forced them to include at least one weapon from other manufacturers to "stimulate domestic trade." So Ceres slapped a Small Laser on the Vindicator in the left arm and called it a day.
• Jack of All Stats: Designed to be one by its creators, the Vindicator clocks in at 45 tonnes, can fight decently at long range, passing well at short range, has an okay speed and mobility and is decently armoured.
• Jump Jet Pack: Carries four of them, giving it the ability to set up for long-range fire with its main gun or to get closer to let the fists and smaller lasers do their work.
• Glass Cannon: The VND-1AA "Avenging Angel" variant was a Capellan attempt at making a Vindicator do the job of a Phoenix Hawk. It 'succeeded', though the resulting 'Mech was so poorly armoured and so prone to overheating (even worse than the original) that the whole variant was declared a failure.
• Lightning Gun: A PPC — or an upgraded version — is the primary weapon of practically all variants of the Vindicator.
• National Weapon: The national 'Mech of the Capellan Confederation, the Vindicator was kept in production (albeit in highly upgraded forms) all the way into the Jihad Era when advances in Inner Sphere OmniMech technology finally put it to rest. Unlike the Cataphract the Vindicator was kept exclusively Capellan, though partially that's because the Capellans limited exports of them.
• Ranged Emergency Weapon: A Medium Laser in the Vindicator's head.
• Robot Antennae: Has a pair, which when combined with the helmet-shaped head gives the Vindicator a very recognizable profile amongst medium 'Mechs.
• Shoddy Knockoff Product: It's essentially a Capellan version of the Griffin, Shadow Hawk or Wolverine, though with just enough things changed to not seem like a blatant rip-off. It's also not as good as either at their specific roles, but just about good enough.
• The Workhorse: Designed and intended for the role, the Vindicator was a central pillar of the CCAF's MechWarrior divisions, though its age and its exclusivity to the Confederation meant it never filled this role for the Inner Sphere entire. With Quirks active the 'Mech is 'Rugged', meaning it is easier to maintain and repair on campaign.
• You Get What You Pay For: Subverted. The Vindicator was designed to be cheap and easy to make and repair because the Capellan Confederation was strapped for both cash and resources. It's still a useful 'Mech that's repeatedly proved its worth for the CCAF.

Whitworth WTH-1

Whitworth, the Inner Sphere's #1 name in mediocrity.

Production Year: 2610
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 40 tons

The flagship (and indeed only) product of the Whitworth Company, the Whitworth was launched in the early 2600s as a middleweight option between the Wasp and the Phoenix Hawk. However, faulty leg actuators made the Whitworth significantly slower than either of those designs, and after the initial close combat-oriented model fared poorly on the battlefield, it was redesigned as an LRM-equipped fire support 'Mech. Never particularly popular, the Whitworth would steadily decline in numbers over the Succession Wars through sheer MechWarrior apathy as much as anything else.

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• The Alleged Car: The Whitworth's leg actuators are so poorly designed that its legs tend to fall off during high-stress maneuvers, and replacing them would require a rework of the 'Mech's entire lower body. This may be why its ground speed caps out at 64.8 km/h.
• Arm Cannon: Both of the Whitworth's arms end in Medium Laser barrels rather than hands. This is actually one of the reasons why the WTH-1S model was unsuccessful, as its lack of hands impaired its ability to fight in melee or grab supplies during a raid.
• Chest Blaster: The Whitworth's primary weapons, its LRM-10 racks, are located in its side torsos.
• Close-Range Combatant: The original WTH-1S model mounted a pair of SRM-6 launchers and a few extra heat sinks instead of the WTH-1's LRM-10s, making it more of a close-in brawler. However, that design tended to get its pilots killed, so the 'Mech was retooled as a fire support unit.
• Even Beggars Won't Choose It: After the Whitworth Company's factory was destroyed during the Amaris Civil War, the Whitworth nearly went extinct over the following centuries simply because no one cared enough about it to try and restart production. Even after a company specifically created to produce spare parts for the machine was incorporated in Combine space, most of the mechs wound up sold off or cannibalized for spares.
• Fan Nickname: Well, "fan" might be pushing it. In-universe, the Whitworth has acquired a couple of nicknames: the relatively neutral "Tin Woodsman," and the entirely derogatory "Worthless." Out-of-universe, it's also known by the even-more-derogatory "Shitworth."
• Jump Jet Pack: The Whitworth mounts four jump jets, which help mitigate its otherwise poor mobility.
• Kill It with Fire: Downplayed. A rare variant of the design mounted a Flamer in one arm and Inferno-loaded SRM launchers in place of the LRM launchers. Amaris used these as terror weapons to destroy entire cities.
• Long-Range Fighter: This is the LRM-equipped WTH-1 Whitworth's intended battlefield role, following the failure of the short-ranged WTH-1S model.
• Macross Missile Massacre: The Whitworth mounts two LRM-10 launchers, which lets it put out a surprising amount of firepower for a 40-ton design. This was later upgraded with Artemis fire-control equipment.
• Master of None: As a fighting machine, the Whitworth is... okay. It has a decent, but not exceptional, level of firepower at both close and long ranges. It's slow, but jump capable. It has a good amount of armor, although that armor is questionably distributed on its chassis. It can bully smaller 'Mechs and annoy larger ones, but it's not going to be punching above its weight. Ultimately, this mediocre level of performance contributed to the 'Mech's relatively poor reputation and the general lack of enthusiasm for the design among MechWarriors.
• Mighty Glacier: Subverted. The Whitworth actually has a lot of protection for a 'Mech of its size — a full 20% of its total mass is devoted to armor, in fact — but for some reason a greater-than-normal amount of that armor is mounted on the legs, leaving the arms and side torsos (which house most of the Whitworth's weaponry and all of its ammunition) lightly protected. It also packs a fair bit of weaponry, with an Alpha Strike that caps at an impressive 35 damage, but in practice it has neither the range overlap for its weapons nor the heat sinking capacity to actually reach that cap reliably. As for the "glacier" part, the Whitworth's top speed is only 64.8 km/h, a speed profile more commonly associated with heavy 'Mechs.

Wolverine WVR-6R

The Not-Named 'Mech in all its reliable glory.

^{Click here to see the Unseen design}

Production Year: 2575
Weight Class: Medium
Mass: 55 tons

The Wolverine has a complicated history: designed originally to be a quick-strike 'Mech designed to compete with the Federated Suns' enemies, where they were previously lagging behind their speedier, better equipped BattleMechs. While it's gone through a number of design concerns, it ultimately made its debut as the Federated Suns' workhorse 'Mech. While it's well-armored, jump jet capable, and its weaponry is powerful; its cockpit is notoriously cramped and hard to see out of, and it also has a very nasty reputation among the Clans due to its name being a consistent reminder of the Not-Named Clan.

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• Arm Cannon: The Wolverine's right arm contains its Autocannon/5, its primary weapon.
• The Artifact: The "Cramped Cockpit" quirk is the result of the original "Blockhead" design having a proportionately small, slightly pushed-back head to accommodate the huge, awkward ball-mount gun turret in front. The current redesign replaces this with a modest laser emitter, leaving plenty of room for what looks in the artwork like a fairly roomy cabin, but this has no effect on the stats.
• Frontline General: One of the lightest 'Mechs to possess the "Command 'Mech" quirk, the Wolverine is a perennial favorite among Scout and Cavalry lance leaders for the boost to their command's efficacy without relying on a 'Mech that risks being left behind. Unfortunately, unlike larger and slower 'Mechs which often have cockpit room to spare for extra computers and comms equipment, a Wolverines cockpit is already small even by medium 'Mech standards and all those extra electronics give it a second, nastier quirk: "Cramped Cockpit".
• He Who Must Not Be Seen: The original Wolverine is one of the Unseen, based on the "Blockhead" from Fang of the Sun Dougram. It was eventually given a Reseen model (as seen to the right), allowing it to re-join official artwork.
• Irony: Because of the history of the Not-Named Clan, the word "wolverine" is a taboo in Clan culture. Then the Wolverine became one of the Unseen, meaning it couldn't be depicted in artwork, and while it could still be referenced, common practice became to not mention the Unseen at all. Thus, the Wolverine was (nearly) wiped from BattleTech, just like Clan Wolverine.
• Jack of All Stats: At 55 tonnes, the Wolverine comes in almost exactly at the centre of the weight distribution. It has a long-ranged autocannon mounted in an arm for decent accuracy, a Medium Laser and SRM for a decent melee punch, pretty decent armouring for a medium 'Mech, and good mobility thanks to its five jump jets.
• Jump Jet Pack: Has five Jump Jets, and was designed by the FedSuns to fill a 'flying cavalry' role.
• The Scottish 'Mech: The Clans despise the Wolverine, and do not acknowledge its existence, maintain them, or salvage them for their toumans. It got to the extent that the Clans created an IIC variant of the 'Mech which they very explicitly did not name the Wolverine IIC.
• Shoulder Cannon: For its SRM-6.
• Superior Successor: The FedSuns built the Wolverine as an answer to the Hegemony's Shadow Hawk. The Wolverine quickly garnered a reputation as the more reliable machine of the two.