The Jaguarundi Stalks Again
HACS-02MG-ANN JAGUARUNDI
The Jaguarundi was designed to be a heavy scout capable of maneuvering across broken terrain while maintaining a good speed. The machine was originally planned by Northco to be competitive with the higher end Shaian Mechanics Gears such as the Strike Cheetah. To save on development cost, the Northco engineering team turned to one of the firm’s most agile designs, the relatively recent Jaguar, as the basic chassis. By reducing its armor and increasing its running speed through newer actuators inspired by the Nemesis Jaguar’s, the modified Jaguar, now somewhat reduced in size and mass, showed a greatly improved physical performance curve. The final product, however, was slower than the Strike Cheetah and much more expensive. Most of the expense came from its improved control systems, which were based on captured NNet designs dating back to the War. While the machine did perform well, its learning curve proved to be somewhat erratic.
It was planned that the Jaguarundi would engage targets from a distance and keep ahead of any retaliatory strikes by virtue of its mobility. When the final product showed itself incapable of this, the proposed light autocannon was upgraded to a rapid-fire bazooka, and the light rocket pod was replaced with a medium one. The resulting Gear was not quite a strike Gear, due to its weak armor, and not quite a scout Gear, due to its diminished speed and unfavorable comparison to the Cheetah series. As such, the management at Northco have mostly written off the Jaguarundi, citing it to be an evolutionary “dead-end.” Although considered a failure by Northco and the majority of the military, the pilots of the Jaguarundis that are currently in service consider them to be good and solid machines. They freely admit that the Jaguarundi lacks the specialized abilities of the Cheetah or larger Gears, but retort that a solid multi-role Gear like the Jaguarundi will always have a place in the army. Some pilots go so far as to call the Jaguarundi the next Hunter (a somewhat overenthusiastic comparison given the cost and complexity of the machine).
Using New Gears in Heavy Gear Blitz!
Introducing new and old gears is one of the great parts of the Extended Content project for blitz. These gears may be used in the armies specified in their description. Sometimes, they’ll count as another gear for rules purposes, since the sublists were written without them in mind. In these cases, they interact with special rules as if they were a gear of the type mentioned. For Example, a Jaguarundi counts as a Jaguar for Rules Purposes, and so may be used in additional roles with the Surplus Jaguars from the Northern Guard rule, Surplus Jaguars.
Jaguarundi in Heavy Gear Blitz!
The Jaguarundi is a North Gear added to the North model list in Heavy Gear Blitz!. Jaguarundi count as a Jaguar for all rules purposes. These additional profiles are Extended Content..
| Model | TV | Roles | MR | Arm | H/S | A | GU | PI | EW | React Weapons | Mounted Weapons | Traits | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguarundi | 10 | SK, RC, FS | W/G:8 | 6 | 3/3 | 1 | 3+ | 3+ | 5+ | MAC, LSMG LVB | MRP, LAPGL | Hands, Agile, Airdrop, SP:+1 | Gear | 1.5" |
| Jaguarundi Fang | 10 | SK, RC, FS | W/G:8 | 6 | 3/3 | 1 | 3+ | 3+ | 5+ | LBZ (AP:1, Burst:1) LVB | MRP, LAPGL | Hands, Agile, Airdrop, SP:+1 | Gear | 1.5" |
| Pathfinder Jaguarundi | 11 | SK, RC, FS | W/G:8 | 6 | 3/3 | 1 | 3+ | 3+ | 5+ | MRF LVB | MRP, LPZ, LAPGL | Hands, Agile, Airdrop, SP:+1, Sensors: 24 | Gear | 1.5" |
| Thunder Upgrade | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4+ | - | - | +Comms, +SatUp | - | - |
| Seccom Upgrade | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 4+ | - | - | +ECCM | - | - |
Jaguarundi in Heavy Gear RPG
Manufacturer: Northco
Unit Type: Advanced Scout/Attack Gear
Height: 4.6 m / 15.1 ft
Weight: 7020 kg / 15,476 lbs
The Jaguarundi was originally conceived by Northco as a competitor to Shaian’s Strike Cheetah as a scout platform. Designers used the recent Jaguar chassis and turned out a heavy scout that wasn’t as fast as the Strike Cheetah and was more expensive. Limited production did occur though and examples can be seen across Terra Nova.
| Location | Stock | Strip |
|---|---|---|
| Torso | 5 | 12 |
| R Manip | 0 | 2 |
| L Manip | 0 | 2 |
| R Shoulder | 0 | 2 |
| L Shoulder | 0 | 0 |
| Variant | TV | PL | Crew | MR | Arm | HI | GU | PI | EW | Weapons, Equipment & Traits | Type | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaguarundi | 10 | 4 | 1 | W/G:8 | 6 | 6 | +1 | +1 | +0 | MAC (Manip), LSMG, LVB (Manip), MRP (Shoulder), LAPGL | Gear | 1.5" |
| Jaguarundi Fang | 10 | 4 | 1 | W/G:8 | 6 | 6 | +1 | +1 | +0 | LBZ (Manip), LVB (Manip), MRP (Shoulder), LAPGL | Gear | 1.5" |
| Pathfinder Jaguarundi | 11 | 4 | 1 | W/G:8 | 6 | 6 | +1 | +1 | +0 | MRF (Manip), LVB (Manip), MRP (Shoulder), LAPGL, LPZ (Manip) | Gear | 1.5" |
| Thunder Upgrade | +1 | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | +1 | +Communication Suite, +Satellite Uplink | - | - |
| Thunder Upgrade | +1 | +1 | - | - | - | - | - | - | +1 | +ECCM Suite | - | - |
| Hands, Rare, Early Warning System, Airborne Deployment Rig | ||||||||||||
