Marauder II Concept Sketch

Short little arms and the digitigrade legs-how far can the arms straighten to punch things?

I like the visibility of the cab- the ability to see up close and down, as well as side to side. Depending on pilot location, that little fin sticking up and blocking the rear cab window might have to go. That big flat front window that gives excellent near/down visibility feels like the pilot *might* be a little too exposed. IDK.

I absolutely love this one - best Mad II I've ever seen.

Brent Evans

I love it, it reminds me of that Fatrauder commission you did, a while back!

Joshua Bressel

I've never really cared much about the Marauder II in the first place, so I can't say that I dislike or like this variation of it. I guess to me it should look a *little* more similar to the Marauder it's based on, but the original Marauder II was pretty much just a Marauder with fins and some bulky underbits, so I understand the desire to move away from that sort of "bolt-on" update.

Robert Schuster

The body structure looks good but the cockpit looks derpy to me.

Sapphirus

The more I look at this the more I like it. I am still not sure I completely like the cockpit, it feels like its missing something. It's definitely a Marauder and I can see why some people would be disappointed with this but I like it.

I think they look weird because the front is so cut-off. The MAD2 wings are that lovable stupid idea to make a 100 ton 'Mech be somewhat aerodynamic and resemble a fighter in that regard. But any flightcraft is fairly long as such the proportions on this scetch just seem off to me.

Yeah, gonna agree with others and say the arms feel a little chunky. Stretch out the guns just a little, slim the upper arms just a touch. Upper gun feels a little short barreled as well, maybe just a smidge longer there? Something about the wings on the back feels weird as well, but I can't place my finger on what exactly feels weird about it.

Weird I've seen that comment twice because a SuperNova looks nothing like this, and the design I come up with for it will definitely be something else :D

Anthony Scroggins

I'm also realizing that this design resembles the Supernova more than the Marauder. Just lose the dorsal cannon and swap to triangular weapon pods.

This is the first design that I dislike. The fact that it deviates heavily from the other marauder design is unimportant to me. The proportions of this design are all off. I dislike the excessive bulkiness. Some of the design appears too reminiscent of the clan Omni Mechs.

I don't have nostalgia for the unseen, more so for the 4th edition mechs... this marauder needs work. The other unseen renditions at least look like the old designs. The marauder II looks like a fat mektek mod design or something like a Raksasha attempt on something good. Needs to be a bit more sleek like your other unseen.

After looking at it more I do think the arms are what is wrong. They need to move forward.

I like it but maybe the proportions look a little odd to me? Like the "torso" or main body seems over-large compared to the legs? Or maybe that is the perspective? Always felt the Marauder was a "leggy" mech lol....

Petrov1970

I love to see that cockpit style. The MAD -4X art is gorgeous. However, I don't like the scale of the Mech. It is too short nosed and, maybe, a bit too wide. The part behind the shoulders is as long as the front part and this has never been the case with Marauders. If the front section was a bit longer or the Mech a bit narrower it would be perfect. Anyway, fantastic art

certainly interesting, I do love how you can see the distinct evolution from the Marauder 1, to this, to the Project Phoenix Marauder II. for my two cents, I would like to see a slightly larger intake on the shoulder jump jets and the PPC Barrels protruding modestly from the housing (they are ERPPCs after all!)

James Bixby

This looks great. I love everything about it! Looks like much heavier Marauder, and for once it looks distinct.

Lexikon

Regarding your later post, I do understand where you're coming from, and I'm glad there are people looking forward instead of backward (even with certain parts of the past being as awesome as they were) My only real dislike of this design is that the Marauder II here feels... blunted, I think is the word, at the front. Like the Dragoons took a compactor to the front and rear in proportion to the legs, don't know if it's just me or the angle, but that's the feel I get for it. Other than that, I think the wings might be too small and the arms a tad too short, just my opinion though. Good on you for placing the cannon on the right torso. As good as the old Marauder design is, I always preferred it to look on the RT as it should instead of it being on the CT. Can't wait to see more of you and your team's Inner Sphere redesigns!

Malintus

Like others have said, there is just something a little off on this one. I think it's that the arms are too far away from what makes a Marauder. The arms in this sketch are just too vanilla. They look like what a bunch of other mechs have. They need to be a little elongated or disproportionate. I am all for giving options to the players with three different looking marauders. I like the chunky look. It reflects the weight of the 25 extra tons. If you took the arms off of the MWO Marauder II and stuck them on there, I think it would be pretty close to perfect.

It looks good. I get the logic behind the drift in design. There are things I would probably change, but this is without seeing orthogonal views: I would slightly enlarge the wings and mount them higher. If they are for flight stability, placing them directly behind the shoulders isn't going to help much. I take it that this is the 5A with the LB autocannon and not the 4A with large laser? It would be interesting to see a variant with the 4A's chin-mounted laser and no dorsal gun. With that smoother profile, it would look very sports car-ish. Perhaps when IWM eventually produces these, parts for variants could be included. Overall, I have been happy with what you have done, Anthony. A year ago I would have said that calls for CGL to redesign all these 'mechs was silly. Where was the capital going to come from? I don't think any of us saw the Kickstarter happening. And while I don't think the original designs are as dated as people complain about, I do understand that newer miniatures can be a big help. What I really don't want to see is an update that is done for the sake of a refresh that only end up dating things even worse. For example the NPC examples in A Time of War. I mean, who has tattoos like that? Even when that book was written, tattoos of that style were pretty much disappearing. And EVERY character illustration had them. So yeah, I don't want to see BattleTech have its 90s comic book revamp. And not that you are doing that. But just saying. So far the decisions have been strong. And I'm glad that everyone is having that conversation behind the scene. And I'm glad the bulky neurohelmets were kept: I mean, it's a combat-ready, self-contained EEG machine. With tech degradation, that is only going to get so small. TLDR: I'm not going anywhere. The MAD II looks good and captures its 100 ton girth.

First I found it weird, but then I came to realize... it's 100 tons, it should look that beefy.

I quite like it after a second look, I think its the high angle point of view that put me off on the first look

I like it, instead of just being a fat, big Marauder 5D of the original art, there's a lot of Phoenix's Marauder II done by Plog here as well as the Marauder IIC done in the phoenix project. As I said in the 'ted talk' about it, these changes are good and needed as you've come up with a hybrid of all three :D

Steven Cross

Now that's what I call a marauder 2 . Nice and fat with that extra 25 tons . love it .

Charles granger

For the most part looks good, there is something not quite right but can not put my finger on it.

I'm not certain which variant CGL will want, but I consider the 5A the default with the LBX, while the 4A is a precursor. Several BT mechs have prototype/precursor variants that come before the "main" variant.

Anthony Scroggins

Additional question to the Maro II: Is this the 3025 Maro II or a newer one with the LB-X 10? The 3025 variant doesn´t have an AC, but a LL on the torso mount...or is this just one variant of a couple?

Henning Boessler

Hahaha such a silly mech that one is. Can probably 3D print a bunch of pods and spam them everywhere.

Anthony Scroggins

Has there been any consideration of how to make a -4H out of this? I will try to make one for my Taurians someday, somehow...

Carlos Sempere

Love the sexy offset canon! On the overall design, it’s something new to the Marauder II design and I welcome it.

Jakob Fredensborg

Interesting to see a lot of Project Phoenix in there! I think I'm okay with that - I like a little more differentiation from the regular Marauder. I guess it depends on what you do with the Nightstar... it'll be weird if that one is closer to the Marauder than the Marauder II. I do think the torso kinda gets lost among the chunky arms and legs, at least from this angle.

Carlos Sempere

Offset I'm doing here because I don't want centerline to be a rule. Of the 3 Marauders this will be the only offset version. And I can at least lay claim to designing these feet before MWO did any Marauders haha.

Anthony Scroggins

Prepare to regret ever speaking those words hahahaha.

Anthony Scroggins

It's an AC10 on an assault mech, it's pretty durn big I think.

Anthony Scroggins

Winglets are innate to the assault Marauders.

Anthony Scroggins

Many miss it, but the Marauder design gives the option to have front window only, or have top and side glass like this Mad II.

Anthony Scroggins

I think the changes may have gone a bit far on this one. Immediate standouts are the center gun offset and the giant four toe block feet that MWO created. I think some tweaks could be made that would greatly improve the design. For an Assault mech I would think the arm cannons are a bit small.

Andrew McKenna

Honestly? I don't like it at all. The MW:O marauder is a piece of beauty, this is...meh. as if someone tried to draw the mad2 from memory and couldn't quite get it. My main issues: I'm missing the central mounted top gun, it's just too iconic to easily take away. And the front looks cut off and weird. Arms should be more forward and the feet deep kinda weird, though I could live with the last two things, it's the first two that really alienate me.

I love this image, but I feel like this would work as a Marauder IIC, rather than the II - the clan redesign gives an excuse for the break in aesthetics between this and the 3R

Stewart Spencer

Yep. The lore says it is literally a Marauder with a hugely reinforced skeleton and a bunch of other stuff bolted on.

Mitchell Berthelson

I like it very much. Looks like a very modern and evalutionary design. Please leave it as it is now.

Henning Boessler

Looks a little blocky, don't care for the feet and didn't the original have a chin mounted laser?

Trevor R.N.

The gun on the back feels pretty small for the mech. Otherwise I love it.

Ohh she's a pretty one. A chunky girl and I Love it.

John Poniske

Super into this design. Don't listen to the nay sayers. Haha. <3

Jordan G Roberts

Not a fan of the wing-like pieces on the back, everything else is superb, as always :)

Danny

Putting the wedge head on the 75 tonner and not on this one seems to break the evolutionary link. Putting that back will help a lot.

Mitchell Berthelson

To add a little more, the shoulders are pushed out by the hips, and that makes it look... odd. Move the hips back, then shoulders forward and in. I'd also like to see the dorsal cannon centered.

DON'T let the guys in charge make you put that auto cannon on a swivel mount like the Marauder 1.

Tyler Erickson

I agree when Ben, if the cockpit looked more like the STD Marauder and the front vents had grills instead of the jet intakes I think it would be better looking

Robert Moore

Fatrauder lives!!!! TBH would like it to be a bit more similar in Geometry to the MAD. Arms forward, with upper arms a skosh smaller, and the lower arms bigger. And the Cockpit matching the Std Marauder. Traditional MAD II that everyone loved was just a fatter, slower version of the classic MAD, with lil wings and a big ol JJ in it's butt.

Benjamin Myers (Bishop Steiner)

Have to agree with others that the arms look stiff and unmarauder-y. Overall it's not bad by any means, but It's the first re-design that I'm not excited about. Just missing that spark.

Aaron Stevens

The cockpit seems less armored than the 75-tonner. Not a fan of the shoulders being over the hips as opposed to set forward. Really, it looks more like a new design than a beefed up Marauder. The Marauder is gold. This one, not so much.

Honestly, I would cut central section behing the gun off, at all, and left only side nacelles (F-35ish twin tail look). Put into opening a keg JJ. Made a back side of ankles over the feet a backward-beefer with 2 more JJ to almost pyramidal look, cause calfs now look too flat and thin for 100-ton assault. And, as final touch, dropped shoulders at all and moved arms to one panel forward.

Like it, I hope it has the keg JJ on it back. Am glad its not just a Marauder with extras added on.

Beefy! With wings!

Kinda with you on this one, right now it doesn't really resemble a Marauder at all.

I do like it, it looks pretty awesome.

That looks MEAN!

Tyler Erickson

Gorgeous. I would love to see another variant maybe with 2 AC5's

I have to agree with the other guys here, elongate those arms a tiny bit more and it'll be perfect.

Alexander J De Santis

Not sure about this. It looks like a Stone Rhino with Timber Wolf arms. Bringing the arms down and forward would make it look more like a Marauder

Michael Cohen

very much agree

Michael Cohen

Hafta say I'm a much bigger MWO design fan here. The main body on this one looks too much like the original art.

Also, it would look more marauder-y if the arms came down and forward slightly.

David

Well hello there! I see a familiar old friend as come back to us.

Janes Interstellar

I love it, a terrifying beast

Andrew Bethards

T H I C C

David