As the situation rapidity deteriorated for the Loyalist forces during the FedCom civil war Katrina Stiener-Davion's generals were desperate as they began defensive preparations for the inevitable invasions of Tharkad and New Avalon to come. Katrina's generals figured that the fights for the capitals would come down to slugging matches with superior armor and weaponry winning out. As they worked out the details for a mech they also wanted a mech that would be able to take considerable punishment fearing that multiple sieges may break out as small groups made desperate stands against the coming onslaught of the rebel forces.  

The Clydesdale uses the revamped Goliath chassis that has been reinforced to become the largest mech available. The engineers decided upon the quad chassis as it would provide superior stability over the Fafnier for its main armament of two Hammerfist heavy gauss rifles. 5 tons of ammo backs these weapons up taking up the remaining torso space. Thanks to the complete lack of space available to the Clydesdale secondary armaments are almost nonexistent.

Only dual small pulse lasers mounted in the rear legs are available, but as they are in the rear arc of the Clydesdale they are mainly for anti-infantry use. The Clydesdale also makes use of dual laser AMS systems mounted in the front legs. The laser anti-missile systems not only cover the assault mech from enemy missiles but can be used as a weapon in a pinch and they are not tied to vulnerable ammo feed mechanisms. To further protect the mech 19 tons of standard armor was used allowing the Clydesdale to take sever punishment before falling.

In a mear 7 months the Clydesdale began walking off assmebly lines in Tharkad and new Avalon ready to face the upcomming onslought. However, due to the hurried design and testing few mecharriors were ready to try these untested mechs into the field.  

As Victor Davion's forces landed on New Avalon the Loyalists were still producing Clydesdales to meet the invasion. However by the time of the first few fights only two lances had been completed for the defense and four of them was the Clydesdale variant Cly_1a (See variant).

As Victor's forces fought around the NIAS Training Academy the Clydesdales were brought up to hold the line. By all accounts these four mechs fought off two different attacks with little damage done to them. After beating off the second attack for some strange reason, quite possible from miscommunication, the Loyalist forces brought down a large artillery barrage upon the Clydesdales position decimating their line destroying all but two of the Clydesdales a Cly_1 and a Cly_1a. After the firestorm lifted the two surviving Clydesdales tried to pull back but was set upon by a combination of battle armor and mechs. Not wanting to die for the cause both pilots surrendered their mechs to the attackers. Both mechs were soon put back into action becoming part of the battle for Capital.

The only known variant was due to the lack of Hammerfist Heavy Gauss rifles. The Cly_1a was manufactured along side the Cly_1. The variant swaps out both Hammerfists for a pair of Grizzard Gauss rifles, four tons of ammo, and an extostar extended range laser. To help compensate for the extra heat of adding the extostar, one extra double strength heat sink was added and to bolster the mechs survivability 1 ton of armor was added to the mech.

The only two surviving Clydesdales remain on New Avalon under the new ownership of the Davion Heavy Guards. Currently only a few Cly_1 Clydesdales are scheduled for production to help offset the tremendous rebuilding programs begun by both the Federated Suns and Lyran Alliance. Until more hammerfist heavy gauss rifles are produced Defiance officials are working on making two Cly_1a's to every one Cly_1.