Mechwarrior Mousse, on 20 March 2014 - 03:59 PM, said:
BIG downside: Mandatory 3rd variant is only available in the year 3071+
Not only that, but the chassis itself had "faded into obscurity" (and was, presumably, extinct) until then; the last
Hammerhands (like with the last examples of its sister design and predecessor, the
BattleAxe) were probably destroyed during the early Succession Wars, and manufacturing doesn't restart until the Jihad ("...and companies, instead of creating brand new designs, went back to their archives, reviewing designs long since abandoned due to obsolescence or unpopularity..." & "...and even the original Federated Suns BattleMech blueprints were brought out, dusted off, and updated with the latest technologies..." - TRO 3075, pg. 218).
Mechwarrior Mousse, on 20 March 2014 - 03:59 PM, said:
So the game would either have to be time jumped to the Jihad era for us to get it or PGI breaks their own rule and forces a hero mech upon the players just so they can master the chassis.

Well, there was a ~1 week period between the removal of the
CN9-AH (Oct. 30, 2012) and the introduction of the
CN9-D (Nov. 06, 2012) where
Centurion pilots had to do exactly that.
Varent, on 20 March 2014 - 04:05 PM, said:
nothing to say the variants have to be the exact ones from Battletech ya no. Creativity is an awesome thing.
Actually, PGI (Bryan Ekman, specifically) indicated in
ATD #50 (in the responses to questions #13 and #43) that it was largely the case that they would, in fact, limit themselves to 'Mechs and equipment that were available as of the "current" with regard to the BT timeline.
Quote
#13 Xenroth: What do you think about not-so-common weapons that already exist in the timeline, like the Long Tom and Swarm LRM? Will we see them in the future?
A: We're focused on Clan tech weapons and items currently. After that we can look at adding any other items that are currently available in the 3050 era.
...
#43 Sir Stomps A Lot: Any chance we'll see a small ballistic weapon other than machine guns in the near future? My Locust 1V(P) would really like some variety.
A: If it's in the timeline and available, eventually.
And
there had not yet been any official statements made with regard to PGI abandoning the BT timeline as of the end of last week.
PGI has - for the time being - evidently elected to limit their exercises in creativity to the Hero 'Mechs and the Champion 'Mechs, while leaving the availability (or lack thereof) of common variants up to the BT timeline, and has not (yet) given any indication of plans to change that stance in the foreseeable future.