Talk:Mad Dog (Vulture)


Vulture MkII, MkIII and mechwarrior 4[edit]

Is it possible that the Vulture in Mechwarrior 4: Vengeance is actually an out of timeline Vulture MkIII? (Noting that MW4 is set in the 3060s and the MKIII isn't introduced until 3109).

The physical appearance of the Vulture in MW4 very closely matches that of the MkIII with the blocky nose, very large missile racks and the chin turret. Furthermore, the weapons used largely match the MkIII alt A config (arm UAC5s, twin CT MPLs and 4xSRM6. I suspect it's appearance was as s result of changes in the art direction within Battletech more broadly as discussed in the Vulture MKIII article.

So, if it's actually a MkIII in the MW4 intro, what does a MkII look like? Is there any source beyond (The apocryphal) MW4? This could certainly remove the disconnect regarding the addition of the chin turret to the MkII - which as pointed out in the main article is more than a minor tooling change.

It doesn't really exist in-universe. According to the MechWarrior BattleTech Reference for that expansion there's a number of flaws. First, it uses Reactive Armor, which signifies a dramatic engineering departure from any canon Vulture models and didn't enter Clan production until 3081. Then it's armed with ER Pulse Lasers, which didn't enter production until 3082. It's nearly impossible to reconcile with canon. MahiMahi (talk) 10:16, 30 December 2022 (EST)
Sorry, to confirm, you are saying the MkII has reactive armour and ERMPLs? Separately, I also note that the Vulture article states that the community decided that the MW4 Intro Vulture was a MKII whilst the Vulture MkIII article talks about the MW4 vulture being a 'visual likeness' to the MkIII - There doesn't appear to be a Canon link between the MkII's visual appearance and MW4.Floydii