The vulture is one of the only battlemechs I recognized before I started getting into battletech lore. It's also one of the best looking in my opinion.
Seems to be a theme with iconic Clan 'Mechs, seeing as the Timberwolf resembles the result of a drunken, unprotected one-night-stand between a Marauder and a Catapult and the Summoner resembles a Thunderbolt with high-heels
The most terrifying variant Vulture I ever faced had to have been in the Mech Commander expansion pack; the damn thing was packing a Star League era Rail Gun. Since I only had Meduims at the time, it was pretty much one shotting everything.
This thing was on the cover of a Genesis game (Battletech), and I've wanted to drive one since I saw it on the shelf. The main player mech in the game is the Timberwolf, which for some reason they called Mad Cat in the manual even though you play as a Wolf Clanner - but much of the materials for the Genesis version featured an especially rad painting of the Mad Dog / Vulture. (The SNES version, Mechwarrior 3050, used the Mechwarrior 2 Timberwolf art.)
My favorite Heavy Clan Omni Mech! I also love the Shadowcat for my medium Recon Mech. My first Mechwarrior game on PC was Mechwarrior 4/ Black Knight. My father got me it when he was at the Microsoft Store!
1st seen it in either the MechWarrior 3050 SNES game or the BattleTech Cartoon early to mid 90s while I was in highschool. Then MW2 for Playstation, then the MW4 series for PC, and Mech Commander 2.
Yeah, that pretty much was mine experience. Although, it was Battletech on Sega Genesis. I only saw the Animated series recently. Did not have it on the TV channels in my area.
in the Battletech video game with the BTA 3062 mod I've finally acquired one. I kitted it out with full Clan FF armor, a pair of Clan LRM 20 packs and a pair of Clan medium pulse lasers. a clan ECM system helps protect it if it gets into the firing arc of an enemy. it's a perfect Artemis IV fire support mech for a reinforced lance of 6 mechs, two heavy, three medium and one light scout/targeting, backed up with one LRM carrier and one artillery tank. all mechs, whether inner sphere or clan, are packing all clan weapons and systems where it makes sense.
I first saw it in the Battletech cartoon, then it became my favourite in MechWarrior 2 (Which I didn't realize at first was in the Battletech universe, because I was a dumb kid who only knew about the cartoon) and again in MW3 where it became the first Mech I got seriously into customizing, when I figured out a simple reconfiguration to the Prime loadout, that made it so much more effective.
I still remember the ending cinematic from MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries where a Vulture gunned down a Commando and a Catapult only to be stopped by an IS lance.
The only thing that comes to my mind from years of playing is, What happened to the chin mounted laser turret? I think in the MW4 cinematic was the last time I saw a Mad Dog depicted properly. An original true to the design Mad Dog has chin mounted weapons as well as arm pods.
To lend ANY credibility to artist's depictions of most mechs, one must believe in extra dimensional spaces to hold all the ammo. Not an issue for energy weapons but definitely for anything packing missiles which most vultures do.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 What I mean is that artists concepts of what a lot of mechs look like seem to border more on the side of fantasy than science fiction.
@@elmospasco5558 OK, i see what you mean, yes I agree. What I think is really cool though is the development of what I would consider the birth or progenitor of the "Elemental" battle armor. These exoskeletal suits are being developed for the military, have you seen those? If not you should really check those out. I believe youtube has some vids.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 I've heard talk about them. Coming up with a compact, light weight and durable enough power source is going to be a major hurdle but you never know what breakthrough is just around the corner.
Just a quick request, but would it be possible to use the Chapters feature that UA-cam has to split the videos up into Intro, History, Famous Mechwarrriors, Variants, and Conclusion? Just some feedback from someone who watches your videos. Do really love these battlemech videos!
Agreed. Hoping to see the QuadVees of Clan Hell's Horses myself one day. Really neat mix of quads and transforming mechs. Not much lore out there on them quite yet because they're pretty new to the universe, but I really like their designs.
Kind of a love/hate relationship with the Mad Dog. On the one hand, it is a damn fine Heavy missile boat, and a few of the variants are good. On the other hand, it suffers from the low ammo that the Timber Wolf does in many of it’s configurations. Six shots from each launcher isn’t great.
fun fact: pretty sure the vulture in the MW4 intro is in fact a vulture MK3, not a regular mad dog. What makes me think of that is both the arms being reduced to turrets like for the mad cat mkII, and the small turret under the nose (though apparently the MW4 design came first and THEN became the MKIII)
I didn’t appreciate this mech nearly enough until I fought against it in Mechwarrior. Granted I thought it looked cool and the cinematic was godly, but later there came a mission (if I recall correctly) where you needed to perform some force recon in a forest. Do tell me if anyone else remembers this. Shortly after stumbling into a clearing (something that was probably left by a drop ship) you’re challenged/ambushed by a pair of these little fuckers. At the time I thought I was some pretty hot shit sauntering in with my heavy mech, after all how could I lose (I’d thought) when I’d fought bigger opponents and far superior numbers by that point. However, with their superior speed and the ability to perform a full 360 degrees of rotation with their armaments, they could functionally do circles around you while still filling you full of holes. Truly a terrifying dance of death. Unless you could match their speed, or could keep both in front of you, there’d always be one peppering your rear. In a heavy I’d have to pivot in place, it made it neigh impossible for them to miss, but it was better to soak damage to the front than let it tear into your soft back. Though that was if they hadn’t already managed to encircle me from opposite sides, forcing me to drop one before I could turn to the other. It was a really humbling experience, goes to show that under the right circumstances a force of superior firepower can be negated by superior mobility. Add the ability to maintain such mobility, remain out of the arc of fire, and strike where the target is weakest and even an Assault Mech could easily be brought to its knees. It made piloting the Mad Dog afterwards super satisfying too, sprinting around opponents and always being able to put shots on target regardless of what direction your legs were pointing, pure ecstasy. :D
Stories like this inspire me to try to figure out a melee mech with the highest speed and melee damage providable id name it grand master of tag or the Kenyan murder machine after i figure this out.
Love running this as a SRM ambush brawler 6xSRM-6 4xFlamers 2xSLAS. Don't get distracted torching your opponent and forget to torso twist, easy to overheat your self if you over do it.
There's actually a robo mech in Shattered Galaxy called the Wight which looks a lot like the Mad Dog (I first played MW2). A guy called it a Mad Cat but I corrected him, for some reason. I also think the name Vulture kind of sucks, but it works reasonably well in MW4 only. A great mech and those missiles hit hard. Go Mad Dog, go!
You know it wasn’t until Mechwarrior 4, and that awesome opening cinematic, that I even realized the Vulture had a canopy. I never looked at any source material, so I just always thought the pilot was completely inside an armored box, like a tank.
Have you ever done a videos on the Blackhawk and/or dragonfly Omnimechs? I don’t think so as I cannot find them, but sometimes the search on UA-cam is not the greatest, just wanted to check….
Okay, genuine question time for life long battletech fans and lore masters. How canonical are the Mechassault games? As a relative newbie to the universe, these games were my first and only introduction to Battletech. MWO being the only other form of exposure that I have.
You did it backwards. Mad Dog is the true name, (Vulture) is the dirty inner sphere nickname they came up with because the clans didn't write model names on the outside of their mechs.
I hate using this thing in Mechwarrior living legends because of the low arms and broad sides... So I dunk on it all the time with a Catapult K2 with 4 lb2x and 2 ERPPC. Say bye bye to your arms bucko, enjoy that walk back to base lol.
The vulture is one of the only battlemechs I recognized before I started getting into battletech lore. It's also one of the best looking in my opinion.
I also had a confused crush on it's pilot
The best merging of the Archer and the Rifleman, making it awesome in my opinion.
Very shooty mcshootface
Seems to be a theme with iconic Clan 'Mechs, seeing as the Timberwolf resembles the result of a drunken, unprotected one-night-stand between a Marauder and a Catapult and the Summoner resembles a Thunderbolt with high-heels
The most terrifying variant Vulture I ever faced had to have been in the Mech Commander expansion pack; the damn thing was packing a Star League era Rail Gun. Since I only had Meduims at the time, it was pretty much one shotting everything.
I remember that mech...
This thing was on the cover of a Genesis game (Battletech), and I've wanted to drive one since I saw it on the shelf.
The main player mech in the game is the Timberwolf, which for some reason they called Mad Cat in the manual even though you play as a Wolf Clanner - but much of the materials for the Genesis version featured an especially rad painting of the Mad Dog / Vulture. (The SNES version, Mechwarrior 3050, used the Mechwarrior 2 Timberwolf art.)
Played it in Mechworrior 2
Was my into to battle tech
My favorite Heavy Clan Omni Mech! I also love the Shadowcat for my medium Recon Mech.
My first Mechwarrior game on PC was Mechwarrior 4/ Black Knight. My father got me it when he was at the Microsoft Store!
1st seen it in either the MechWarrior 3050 SNES game or the BattleTech Cartoon early to mid 90s while I was in highschool.
Then MW2 for Playstation, then the MW4 series for PC, and Mech Commander 2.
Yeah, that pretty much was mine experience. Although, it was Battletech on Sega Genesis. I only saw the Animated series recently. Did not have it on the TV channels in my area.
The vulture is my all time favourite mech, it was the one i always used to use on Mechwarrior 3 on my dads old PC when i was little.
This is my absolute favorite mech. So versatile
Finally, thank you! I’ve been waiting for someone to do the Vulture for a while now.
Vulture (maddog) is my second favorate mech right next to the Archer
Your taste is impeccable sir.
Yah was just thinking, Looks like Clan Archer. Lol
Beat me to it.
Both basically designed for the same rolls
Woohoo such good fortune. "Let us proceed, shall we" always gets me pumped for some heavy metal content.
Love the breadth of content you cover.
Happy to hear that.
in the Battletech video game with the BTA 3062 mod I've finally acquired one. I kitted it out with full Clan FF armor, a pair of Clan LRM 20 packs and a pair of Clan medium pulse lasers. a clan ECM system helps protect it if it gets into the firing arc of an enemy. it's a perfect Artemis IV fire support mech for a reinforced lance of 6 mechs, two heavy, three medium and one light scout/targeting, backed up with one LRM carrier and one artillery tank. all mechs, whether inner sphere or clan, are packing all clan weapons and systems where it makes sense.
Thank you M. The Vulture has been my favorite mechs since the 90s.
I first saw it in the Battletech cartoon, then it became my favourite in MechWarrior 2 (Which I didn't realize at first was in the Battletech universe, because I was a dumb kid who only knew about the cartoon) and again in MW3 where it became the first Mech I got seriously into customizing, when I figured out a simple reconfiguration to the Prime loadout, that made it so much more effective.
getting to play as this on almost all missions on ps1 mechwarrior 2 made everything much simpler
I still remember the ending cinematic from MechWarrior 2: Mercenaries where a Vulture gunned down a Commando and a Catapult only to be stopped by an IS lance.
The only thing that comes to my mind from years of playing is, What happened to the chin mounted laser turret? I think in the MW4 cinematic was the last time I saw a Mad Dog depicted properly. An original true to the design Mad Dog has chin mounted weapons as well as arm pods.
To lend ANY credibility to artist's depictions of most mechs, one must believe in extra dimensional spaces to hold all the ammo. Not an issue for energy weapons but definitely for anything packing missiles which most vultures do.
@@elmospasco5558 not sure I am following you, what do you mean.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 What I mean is that artists concepts of what a lot of mechs look like seem to border more on the side of fantasy than science fiction.
@@elmospasco5558 OK, i see what you mean, yes I agree. What I think is really cool though is the development of what I would consider the birth or progenitor of the "Elemental" battle armor. These exoskeletal suits are being developed for the military, have you seen those? If not you should really check those out. I believe youtube has some vids.
@@impressiveprogressive7343 I've heard talk about them. Coming up with a compact, light weight and durable enough power source is going to be a major hurdle but you never know what breakthrough is just around the corner.
Mad Dog is my favorite mech in the battletech universe. Super versatile with good speed, good weapons and adequate armor.
This video did not make me mad, but I was waiting for it like a hungry scavenger...
Well done, GDN!
Thank you.
my first intro to Battletech was the cartoon show way back when. the vulture kinda looks like an ED-209 on stairoids to me.
I still remember playing mw4 vengeance coming over the mountains. 2 vulture mk3 running a patrol and just start smashing you apart
My favourite clan mech since mech warrior 4 and also the Battletech series
Just a quick request, but would it be possible to use the Chapters feature that UA-cam has to split the videos up into Intro, History, Famous Mechwarrriors, Variants, and Conclusion? Just some feedback from someone who watches your videos. Do really love these battlemech videos!
That Vulture with dual Arrow IV in MW4M's Solaris7 was *INFURIATING*
I hope we get to see more quads, they have some really neat designs.
Agreed. Hoping to see the QuadVees of Clan Hell's Horses myself one day.
Really neat mix of quads and transforming mechs. Not much lore out there on them quite yet because they're pretty new to the universe, but I really like their designs.
Excellent video, this is my favorite mech after the Marouder
Glad you like it
Mad Dog Alt. A is absolutely devastating in built up areas or confined spaces, easily my favorite clan mech.
I remember seeing this in a cinematic. Brings back so much nostalgia.
So it's basically the Archer's younger, meaner cousin from out of town.
Kind of a love/hate relationship with the Mad Dog. On the one hand, it is a damn fine Heavy missile boat, and a few of the variants are good. On the other hand, it suffers from the low ammo that the Timber Wolf does in many of it’s configurations. Six shots from each launcher isn’t great.
This is what comes from Clanners obsessed with short honor based slap fights instead of actual war
GDM: the Man.
love the vulture forget the archer the vulture is the ultimate fire support mech great video buddy
One of my favorite clan mechs also
The Vulture is the Clans take on the beloved Archer.
The Mad Dog was my dad's favorite, which is ironic cause mine was the Timberwolf.
fun fact: pretty sure the vulture in the MW4 intro is in fact a vulture MK3, not a regular mad dog. What makes me think of that is both the arms being reduced to turrets like for the mad cat mkII, and the small turret under the nose (though apparently the MW4 design came first and THEN became the MKIII)
Most OG battletech people hate the look of the mw4 vulture, but god damn did i love that design
A mech immortalized in cinematic and scoreboard.
I didn’t appreciate this mech nearly enough until I fought against it in Mechwarrior.
Granted I thought it looked cool and the cinematic was godly, but later there came a mission (if I recall correctly) where you needed to perform some force recon in a forest. Do tell me if anyone else remembers this.
Shortly after stumbling into a clearing (something that was probably left by a drop ship) you’re challenged/ambushed by a pair of these little fuckers.
At the time I thought I was some pretty hot shit sauntering in with my heavy mech, after all how could I lose (I’d thought) when I’d fought bigger opponents and far superior numbers by that point.
However, with their superior speed and the ability to perform a full 360 degrees of rotation with their armaments, they could functionally do circles around you while still filling you full of holes. Truly a terrifying dance of death.
Unless you could match their speed, or could keep both in front of you, there’d always be one peppering your rear. In a heavy I’d have to pivot in place, it made it neigh impossible for them to miss, but it was better to soak damage to the front than let it tear into your soft back. Though that was if they hadn’t already managed to encircle me from opposite sides, forcing me to drop one before I could turn to the other.
It was a really humbling experience, goes to show that under the right circumstances a force of superior firepower can be negated by superior mobility. Add the ability to maintain such mobility, remain out of the arc of fire, and strike where the target is weakest and even an Assault Mech could easily be brought to its knees.
It made piloting the Mad Dog afterwards super satisfying too, sprinting around opponents and always being able to put shots on target regardless of what direction your legs were pointing, pure ecstasy. :D
Stories like this inspire me to try to figure out a melee mech with the highest speed and melee damage providable id name it grand master of tag or the Kenyan murder machine after i figure this out.
Ghost bear DLC made me love this mechs look.
Loved it man keep them coming!!
Love running this as a SRM ambush brawler 6xSRM-6 4xFlamers 2xSLAS. Don't get distracted torching your opponent and forget to torso twist, easy to overheat your self if you over do it.
There's actually a robo mech in Shattered Galaxy called the Wight which looks a lot like the Mad Dog (I first played MW2). A guy called it a Mad Cat but I corrected him, for some reason.
I also think the name Vulture kind of sucks, but it works reasonably well in MW4 only.
A great mech and those missiles hit hard. Go Mad Dog, go!
You know it wasn’t until Mechwarrior 4, and that awesome opening cinematic, that I even realized the Vulture had a canopy. I never looked at any source material, so I just always thought the pilot was completely inside an armored box, like a tank.
Beautiful mech
I thought it was particularly favored by Jade Falcon and/or Smoke Jaguars but maybe i remember wrong
I always saw thus mech as a 'lighter Madcat' love the design but i always thought its missile pods were juat a tad too exposed.
:) hehe. this is straight out of the tro clan invasion. just read it yesterday.
The Vulture is one of my favorite Battlemechs as well. :) I loved painting them and killing my friends with them. Even dying to them was more fun.
Just finished painting one of these for my ghostbear delta galaxy a lit bit ago
awesome
"Today we're covering the Mad Dog... or as dirty clanners would call it, the Vulture"
Never Forget, May 20 3052
Always Pay Your HPG Bills Fucko!
I love this mech !
It is also in mechwarrior 234 and mechcommander
Have you ever done a videos on the Blackhawk and/or dragonfly Omnimechs?
I don’t think so as I cannot find them, but sometimes the search on UA-cam is not the greatest, just wanted to check….
Not yet :)
Great mech, it's a get the job done work horse.
Mechwarrior 4 Vengeance intro brought me here
I didn't know STREAKS go up to 15???!!
Ghost Bear. Aka Clan Gotta Go Fast.
Oooooohh boy my 4 th favorite mech and I’m looking for a model for the mkII mad dog
Looks good, is eficient, it's armor however is too thin on the original design, I favor the Timber Wolf.
Booombostix👍🐲🌋💥
Over heating on a clan mech?
Heresy
My favorite 3050 heavy. The old sculpt metal sucked to put together though.
It was not one of my favorites but In MW4 I loaded one of these with has many streak SRM has it could hold with Artemis and a tag
Okay, genuine question time for life long battletech fans and lore masters. How canonical are the Mechassault games? As a relative newbie to the universe, these games were my first and only introduction to Battletech. MWO being the only other form of exposure that I have.
Probably in a grey area of canonicity.
This is my goto in mwo.
For the algorithm...
You did it backwards. Mad Dog is the true name, (Vulture) is the dirty inner sphere nickname they came up with because the clans didn't write model names on the outside of their mechs.
I hate using this thing in Mechwarrior living legends because of the low arms and broad sides... So I dunk on it all the time with a Catapult K2 with 4 lb2x and 2 ERPPC.
Say bye bye to your arms bucko, enjoy that walk back to base lol.
#5
Saying the Maddog is your favourite mech. Then misnaming it as a Vulture because you think it is "cooler"? This is dezgra, freebirther