Flushed with the recent successes of their Cetan and Chiron advanced scout ‘Mechs, the Draconis Combine’s Hasegawa Mech Facility on Deiron decided to chase a DCMS requisition application for the supply of a light fire-support ‘Mech, suitable for deployment in large numbers or to militia units. HMF executives named the design the Croatan, but the first Legion of Vega Regiment to receive the ‘Mechs disparaged it as "only half a Catapault" - and the nickname "Half-Cat" has stuck irrevocably since then.

Given the requirements for a low-cost, low-maintenance unit, HMF’s Chief Designer, Riku Hanta, started by replacing the Cetan’s 280XL engine with a lower-rated unit producing a top design speed of around 60 kph. The removal of the bulky XL engine meant that four standard jump-jets could be fitted, increasing the Croatan’s mobility for comparatively low cost. A pair of Telos DecaCluster LRM launchers, long used in the Grand Dragon, provided the Croatan’s main weaponry, with 6.5 tons of standard armor.

The Croatan was originally meant to be a 40-tonner, with a total of 4 tons of LRM ammunition and a secondary armament of 2 medium pulse lasers. However Hanta’ assistant and wife, Lissa Hanta, pointed out the advantages of being officially classed a "Light" mech. In order to reduce the total weight to 35 tons, enabling the use of a lighter engine, the decision was made to drop to two tons of ammunition - without benefit of CASE - and to reduce the secondary armament to one standard medium laser.

Two of the 40-ton Croatans were built for engineering studies of the basic concept. Both were used extensively as test-beds for weapons configurations, due to the capacious hull arrangements provided for the LRMs. One was dismantled following an accident involving a catastrophic MRM launcher failure. The other remains somewhere in the HMF plant, following the "loss" of the Fusion 160 engine during a stocktake.

Two companies of Croatans were provided to the 11th Legion of Vega for assessment. For a variety of reasons, this did not go well. Chief amongst the reasons were the fact that the Legion had just been assessing the SR1-O Strider OmniMech. The "Half-Cat", which is how even official documents referred to the design, suffered poorly by comparison. Slower, lighter, and offering no "plug & play" weapons, they were regarded by the Legion’s warriors as "toys" or "tractors" - ignoring the almost 3:1 price differential between the Strider and Croatan. The Legion’s tech support, on the other hand, turned in glowing recommendations for the units’ reliability, ease of repair and general durability. The design was formally accepted by the DCMS - but no units were ever ordered.

Following the Black Dragon’s ill-fated attack on the Ghost Bears Dominion, cash-strapped planetary governors along the GBD border did end up placing enough orders for the design to be worth re-tooling a Cetan production line for a period of 18 months, at last recouping HMF’s investment. Unfortunately, every order placed was for "that cheap Half-Cat design" - not the stuff marketing dreams are made of. As a result, even Combine units outside the GBD border will rarely recognise a Croatan.

Fluff by WorkTroll