Lego Build 88 — Hankyu (Arctic Cheetah)

Created shortly before the invasion of the Inner Sphere, the Arctic Cheetah was meant to replace older scout machines serving in the Clan toumans. The design would be jealously kept by the Smoke Jaguars after they acquired it and it would take that faction’s erradication to spread it further.

With a mass of 30 tons, the Arctic Cheetah was relatively light, but also quite fast. Most baseline configurations used advanced electronics and long-range firepower to exploit its maneuverability.

Nicknamed the Hankyu during the invasion, due to the perceived threat the Kuritans saw on it, the design would eventually become a staple of Clanner technology, spreading to many factions across the Inner Sphere.

In my Blake’s War AU, this machine is the light support ‘Mech choice fo the Clanner (Nova Cat) faction. It is meant to use its advanced electronics to scout and confound enemy forces and the long-range missile launchers to lay waste to concentrations of troops. Many Mechwarriors would gain notoriety aboard Arctic Cheetahs, being promoted to heavier machines, like Nova Cat OmniMechs, after just a few missions.

This model was hard to conceive and it is somewhat hard to put together. It takes 55 parts, which is shocking given how small it ends up being. And yet, I still think it came out too big. It is also a bit more frail that I wanted, but I think I would be hard-pressed to make it any better at this stage. And I really wanted to show you a new ‘Mech after this small hiatus on that regard.

As usual, let me know your thoughts. If you enjoy these builds, you can buy me a coffee at Ko-fi. Helps me keeping the lights on and invest in future projects for which I’m really excited.