Sychodemus, on 21 August 2012 - 12:47 AM, said:
Stackpole wrote the novel before the TRO came out (and by extension the artwork.) Further, the Daishi was one of the last Clan omnis to be designed (it was not one of the original Mk.1s.) As is often the case, authors are given a lot of room for artistic license, and as such it is likely all he had go on was a loose description from the developers (possibly something like, "It's like an Atlas but with three times as much fire power.")
Even worse, artists for the novels are often employed by the book publishers and not the Battletech developers, so the quality/accuracy of the covers might be off (and sometimes waaaaay off.) No worries though, we know what a Dire Wolf looks like.
And yes, the reprint novel's cover is hideous.
The Mk Is have been stated to be a fan creation by the writers- no actual copy of the supposed magazine has ever shown up to my knowledge, and when FASA closed down, all their original papers were gone through by the writers.
A card with the original 20 Clans was there- (Clan Fox, Clan Tiger, Clan Wolf, Clan Coyote etc.) from the early-mid 80s.
But no Mk Is.
Stackpole wrote the Trilogy under a very tight deadline, and to say it was rushed was an understatement. Miscommunication happens- for example, Cyrila says that there is 600 Bloodnames (not 803), Vlad's Executioner configuration breaks the rules, and Phelan takes a Clan ER PPC to the cockpit which seems to act like a regular PPC damage wise (blows out the armour and damages the cockpit internals but leaves him and the cockpit still working)
What's worse? Look at the original Strom Crow artwork of the Prime which features missle racks.
Except the Prime doesn't have any missles.
Sure, the 'Mk Is' would explain why it has missles in the artwork- but doesn't explain any of the other issues, mistakes, and contradictions from those days. (Ever looked at the original Solaris VII 'mechs? They violate basic construction rules)
Having artwork that doesn't match the stats doesn't need an elaborate reason- someone drawing fifteen missles in a Timber Wolf's launcher instead of twenty because it looks better asthetically makes lot more sense than 'nerfing the Clans' at the last minute.
Especially as they forgot to include the minimum range for the LRMs in the original printing of the rules, and the Clan LRMs have been just as dangerous ever since.
1
so clanner mercs put them on backwards.
